Worth my Life
by Laura Latts
Summary: Dipper steps up to make the ultimate sacrifice for his sister. The trouble is that Mabel feels guilty for it, Pacifica is in potential danger, Bill Cipher's having way too much fun, and not even Stanley has the answers to help. Rated T for blood. Dipifica Bipifica. Written before aToTS. "Grunkle Stan" is "Stanford" and "Author Stan" is "Grandpa Stanley".
1. Chapter 1

_Laura: Okay, a little anxious cause this is more than just drabbles feelsy stuff. I'm sorry if anything's out of character, I can't really figure Bill out. This is picking up after whatever spit calms down AFTER Not What he Seems. Stanley and Stanford are on talking terms, government is thrown off their trail again. Dipper still has some issues with the family and stuff. I just.. I couldn't actually bring myself to figure out all the plot details of how to get rid of their impending apocalypse, so it's a little AU. Still, I hope you like it!_

* * *

Dipper looked down at his reflection in some scrap metal. He sighed again. It seemed all he can do at the moment. His chest was heavy and uptight with troubles. They had just finished one of the most spectacular adventures yet, and he still hurt about what had happened. Another sigh escaped him, trying to ease the pain in his chest, when he heard the gravel and dust shift from the door opening behind him.

 _'Probably come to tell me how sorry he is..'_ , Dipper scoffed in his mind as he curled up more in his spot. 'Like that's really gonna help..'

The footsteps echoed and Dipper's sharp observation already declared in his mind it wasn't Stanford, whom he was having trust issues with, or Mabel whom he got into a fight with earlier about the Journals.

"Can I talk with you, Dipper?", Stanley's voice asked.

Dipper couldn't really refuse, so he gave a shrug. It was amazing, finally meeting the author of the Journals. It was a bit unnerving though that the same man was his grandfather and more so, shared the same name as his grunkle. Dipper and Mabel both had to really be careful not to accidentally get the two confused.

Stanley sat down next to him on the floor in the bottom of the basement. Pieces of the machine still laid about. Dipper just wanted to be away from everyone for the moment. They sat in silence for a moment, taking time to compile thoughts.

"...What're you thinking?", Stanley asked gently.

"...I don't wanna hear that Grunkle Stan was just trying to look out for me..", Dipper allowed himself to be bitter as he looked away. "I don't understand how his lying to the whole world, to Mabel and I after he PROMISED he wasn't gonna keep a bombshell secret from us, was supposed to be 'looking out for me'."

"Stanford does have a hard time really showing how he cares.", Stanley agreed with a slight nod. "But did you really stop to consider what he had to put up with for thirty long years?"

In the attic, Mabel was tired. She had been running around town all day getting the government guys off their tails, and with the emotional fit of finding relief in her grunkle for not really being an evil guy, and a new family member to love, and then fighting with Dipper. Her heart was heavy as she sat on her bed and was knitting up an apology sweater.

What was worse was that Mabel also kept having the nagging feeling of what would've happened had she pressed that red button at the start of it all. She was just getting past the band of the waist when tears formed up again in her eyes. She sniffled, trying not to cry. But the idea of practically killing off her Grandpa Stan, and leaving Grunkle Stan alone and heartbroken forever, was one of the worst things she could think of at the moment. But even though she had done the right thing, it meant fighting with her twin brother.

More tears spilled over onto her work as she sat there. Her fingers stopped moving the needles and she trembled and sniffled, unable to stop herself from crying a little. Her head throbbed with the emotional work-up of things and her throat felt clogged up tight from choked-back sobs. She held both and laid back on her pillow, trying to ease the pain. Mabel looked over at the bed across from her and thought of how mad Dipper was with her right now. She closed her eyes and curled up tight.

"I wish I could think of some way to make this better...", she uttered quietly to herself.

As if by magic, the windows bursted open with a strong gust of wind. Several of her posters and loose papers fluttered through the room and Mabel sat up with a gasp, looking around.

With a bright flash, Bill Cipher suddenly appeared in the triangular window above their beds.

"Heeeeeyyyyy Shooting Star!", Bill greeted cheerfully before floating down into the room. "How ya been, kid?"

"What're you doing here?", Mabel frowned at the demon.

"Hm, just curious to see what my favorite Pine Twin was up to.", Bill leaned on his cane casually. "Sounds like you and Pinetree are having a hard time!"

"You mind your own business, you weird-o demon guy!", Mabel growled a little. "Don't think you can try making a deal with me, cause I already know not to listen to you!"

"Hm. Did you learn that on your own, or from the last time your brother got in over his head and made a deal with me?", the illuminacho asked.

The question surprised Mabel a little.

"Umm.."

"Sorry if it seems like I'm prying there, Shooting Star, but you gotta admit. Your brother does get pretty wrapped up and desperate in all that paranormal stuff.", Bill pressed on. "If he wasn't, then you wouldn't have had to fight me and ruin your puppet show. Actually, it's pretty weird if you ask me.."

"Wh-what's weird?", Mabel asked.

"Lots of things, like this!", Bill quickly snapped his fingers and snakes appeared around Mabel's feet.

Mabel screamed and jumped up to her feet while the snakes wrapped up around her legs and then slithered up her body into her hair.

"Get them out! Gett'em out gett'em out gett'em out!", Mabel fussed with her hair, trying to throw the snakes out in fear. "Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew!"

The snakes hit the floor but then quickly turned to balls of yarn as they did so. Mabel panted a little from the sudden scare while Bill laughed at her.

"Nah, I'm just messin' with you, Shooting Star!", Bill wiped his eye of a nonexistent tear. "Honestly what's weird is that your brother is always looking out for you, trying to keep you out of trouble, when he's the one who gets himself AND you into it more often than not!"

"Huh? Dipper doesn't..", Mabel started to argue.

"Dipper doesn't, what?", Bill interrupted. "Doesn't make a deal with me just to find the password to a silly old laptop? Or drags his sister and friends into the middle of the woods to find gremoblins and shape-shifting monsters?"

"...W-well...", Mabel hesitated. She couldn't think of a good retort to that.

"Shooting Star, you poor thing..", Bill said with an odd tone of comfort and pity to his voice while one of his arms snaked its way around her shoulders, making her shiver and step away from it. "You try so hard to take good care of him, it's a shame Dipper doesn't trust you anymore.."

Tears shimmered in Mabel's eyes, thinking back to their last argument. She hid them, trying not to cry again.

"Maybe if he did, he wouldn't be putting himself in such life threatening danger!", Bill went on. "I wonder why he doesn't trust you?"

"Put yourself in his shoes for a moment.", Stanley went on to say. "What if Mabel was in that portal?"

Dipper's eyes widened a little and for a moment, his heart clenched at the thought. Mabel? Lost for thirty years?

"Now say you were working on this with Soos and Mabel was lost in the portal. Soos shut it down, trying to keep the world safe..", Stanley pressed on. His eyes glazed a bit as he looked into the past, the earlier conversations with McGucket and his memories of Stan piecing together what was likely to have happened after he was lost. "But when you asked him for help to get her back, he said no. He said you were crazy to want to turn it on. You lost your sister, you lost your friend. You lost the funding and brains to recreate it. You couldn't get her back. You have to raise the money on your own, but if you told anyone about it, they would all say you were dangerous and crazy."

"...But Mabel and I would've been understanding..", Dipper tried to argue. "If he even showed me, I would've been more willing to share with him Journal number 3."

"But then you would've been part of this dangerous machine your uncle is building.", Stanley pressed on. "And you would've been arrested too."

Dipper's eyes widened as that news sunk in.

"Oh..."

"Even if you just HEARD about it, those agents would peg you to be working with Stan. You would've been made a primary target and enemy.", Stanley pulled out the book and held it out. "And just because you heard about it, and you gave him Journal number 3."

Mabel thought about it, she remembered Dipper showing her the Journal the very first time.

"...The Journal did say to trust no one..", she uttered quietly to herself.

"Really?", Bill pretended to be surprised. "Wow! You mean the SAME journal that told your brother about all those paranormal dangers he gets himself into?"

Mabel looked back at him, a little fearful, but more hurt than anything to think of her brother being in danger. Bill rolled his eye and shrugged.

"Oh wow, isn't this awkward then? Ha ha!", he laughed a little. "I just had a perfect idea but I doubt you wanna listen to me!"

"What?", Mabel asked, rising to the bait. "I wanna help Dipper!"

"And all I've ever wanted was to get rid of those Journals!", Bill turned away a little. "That's what I was trying to do when I was in Dipper's body but... Too bad you had to tire me out instead of just innocently handing the book over to me when I asked you to. If I had a body, it'd be a cinch to get rid of the Journals and then Dipper wouldn't ever have any leads on a dangerous monster hunt ever again!"

He started to float away now as the thought settled into Mabel's head.

"...Wait!", Mabel called out, earning the demon's attention as he turned to look back. She hesitated and rubbed her arm. She knew she had to be careful about how to word this. "What if...I got rid of them?"

"Hmm... Sounds like a proposition..", Bill said slowly, rubbing his chin. "How do I know that you'll stick it out all the way through though? What if you only ripped out one or two pages? All three Journals need to be destroyed to keep Dipper safe."

"I promise.", Mabel smiled confidently. "The Journals will be destroyed to keep Dipper from going on another monster hunt and not trusting anyone."

"I like it!", Bill seemed more happy with this and then held out his hand in the general form of deal-making. "But just to hold you to your word..."

"Ugh! I can't believe how stupid I've been..", Dipper groaned a little and buried his face in his hands. "And then I had to go and fight with Mabel because she wouldn't press the button... Because I felt like I couldn't trust her or Grunkle Stan."

"Dipper.", Stanley sighed and opened the Journal. "Remember when I wrote to trust no one?"

Dipper looked up and Stanley had it opened to that page. But then he flipped forward, more towards the end of the book.

"When you gave the Journal back to me, I found something remarkable..", he opened to a page Dipper instantly recognized. Stanley cleared his throat and read aloud. "'This Journal taught me that there was no one in Gravity Falls I could trust. But when you battle a hundred gnomes side by side with someone, you realize they pretty much always have your back.'"

Stanley stared at the page a long time before slowly sighing. Dipper felt the guilt tear at him and make him feel worse for fighting with Mabel at all.

"Dipper... I had top grades in school.. I've been to college. I corrected a Nasa scientist in his research about mathematics and have been studying paranormals for years...", Stanley and Dipper met each other's gaze. "...That's what these Journals contain. A lifetime of knowing almost everything... And this page.. This one piece... Contains more wisdom than anything I've ever written in all my years."

Dipper was taken aback. It was monumental to hear, of all things, that his young age had lead way to wisdom that even Stanley Pines admitted to.

Stanley kept his thumb in place of the page and then flipped back to the other page of trusting no one. He frowned and then did something that made Dipper shudder in shock.

 ** _*RRIIIIIIIIIIIP!*_**

Dipper and Stanley stared at the page from the book. Stanley looked at Dipper who hesitated but then looked back at him, and then crumpled the paper in his hand.

"Dipper... All I have left to ask you is this..", he dropped the paper and closed the book. "Would you give up the world for Mabel? The WHOLE world?"

Dipper was about to answer with a flat-out YES, but then paused. The WHOLE world? He thought of exactly what Stanford had to go through. He lost trust with his family. He watched a friend go insane. He lived a long lonely life of breaking laws. He could've destroyed the whole planet, every last person in it, and he knew it. All for his twin. Would he?

Mabel took a deep breath as she paced back and forth in her bedroom. Wide awake now, though she could swear she'd still see the triangular shadow on the wall.

"...I just gotta talk with Dipper..", she told herself. "It's all to make sure he's safe.."

She took another deep breath and started for the door when it already began to open. Dipper came in and the two stared at each other for a moment.

"Uh.. Hey Dipper.", Mabel gave a small grin. "Um... Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, of course Mabel, anything.", Dipper nodded with a small smile of his own. "But first there's something I wanna tell you."

"Well actually I'd REALLY like to look at the-"

"I'm sorry.", Dipper interrupted.

Mabel paused and looked back with genuine surprise.

"..What?", she asked.

"I'm really sorry I've been a jerk to you.", Dipper apologized, looking guilty. "It was stupid of me, acting like you betrayed me or anything, cause you listened to Grunkle Stan. I was talking with Stanley and he told me how I should always be able to trust family. And well..."

Dipper pulled out the journal and Mabel swallowed a large lump in her throat as she stared at it.

"...I shouldn't have listened to this silly Journal at all..", Dipper concluded, shaking his head a little. "I'm really sorry Mabel.. I should've trusted you and Grunkle Stan more.."

Mabel's heart melted listening to him. This heart-felt apology...Mabel began to feel guilty herself. Dipper sighed with relief.

"I'm so glad we've got that settled..", he smiled more, earning a more forced one from Mabel as she nodded. "So, what did you wanna ask me?"

"Umm...", Mabel shuffled a little. "I uh.. I-I was wanting to ask you if I could um... Can I see the Journal?"

"Yeah, of course!", Dipper handed it over. "Anything for you, Mabel."

Mabel took the book from him and looked at it. Her face reflected with the hand on it. She felt the guilt gnaw at her, this real sense of betrayal she was about to take part of. She hesitated.

 _'I can't do it...'_ , she thought to herself.

 _'I hoped so...'_ , Bill's voice echoed behind her.

Mabel felt his hands grasp her shoulders and suddenly a hard jerk. Dipper gasped as Mabel's body fell over.

"Mabel?!", Dipper dropped to his knees. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

 _'Wh-what happened?!'_ , Mabel asked in the mindscape as she floated there. _'Dipper! Look out!'_

Slowly her body stood up, grasping the Journal tightly. A dark chuckle rumbled from her throat.

"Mabel?", Dipper asked, a little uneasy. "Are...are you okay?"

"Oh... I'm MORE than okay, PINETREE!", Mabill looked up, the largest grin plastered on her face.

"Pinetree..?", Dipper asked quietly before gasping again. _"BILL!?"_

"FINALLY I can get rid of these Journals!", Mabill turned the book over in her hands and started to open it.

"Give me that journal!", Dipper quickly lunged forward for it and the two tumbled into the floor and a couple of boxes as they wrestled for the book.

Dipper managed to yank it from Mabill's grasp and took off running.

"GIVE ME BACK THAT JOURNAL!", Mabill screamed at him as she took chase.

"Never!", Dipper ran out of the room and down the stairs "Stan!"

Mabill was in hot pursuit but Dipper reached the bottom of the stairs just as both Stans came up.

"Kids, what's wrong?!", Stanford asked.

Dipper rushed past them and hid behind Stanley's legs.

"That's not Mabel, she's being possessed by a demon that wants the Journals!", Dipper quickly explained.

 _"GIVE ME THAT BOOK!"_ , Mabill tried to run past them too, but Stanley quickly took hold of the back of Mabel's sweater and pulled the child up off the ground.

Mabill wrestled in Stanley's grasp as she tried to break free, dangling by her sweater.

"Let me go!", she growled. "Dipper's not sharing with me!"

Stanley got a better grasp on her and kept Mabill at arm's length.

"Dipper, what's going on?!", Stanley looked down at him. "What's gotten into Mabel?"

"Bill Cipher did and he's trying to destroy the Journals!", Dipper backed away, holding the Journal close. "It's not Mabel!"

"You're gonna regret this Pinetree...", Mabill scowled at him coldly.

" _Pinetree_?", Stanford echoed.

Lee and Ford looked at each other with worry.

"...Let's get him tied up.", Stanley stated. "We need to get Mabel back..."

"Yeah..", Stanford quickly nodded.

They hurried off while Dipper caught his breath. After a moment, he then looked around.

"Mabel.. Mabel!", Dipper stood back up and tried to guess where his sister's dreamscape-ghost could be. "Mabel, listen carefully, you can talk with me through anything that has a face on it! A-A puppet or something!"

Dipper backed up, starting to head for the stairs but bumped into something and turned around to find one of Mabel's floating stuffed toys. A tiger with really long, floppy legs.

"Dipper, I'm so sorry about what happened!", Mabel's voice echoed through the toy. She sounded like she was in tears.

"No. No no no no, Mabel it's not your fault..", Dipper started to say out of the knee-jerk reaction to comfort her.

"But it IS my fault!", Mabel insisted, the doll covered its eyes in sorrow. "I promised Bill I would destroy the Journals because I wanted to keep you safe! But I didn't want to after you apologized and then he took over my body!"

The words sunk in deep in Dipper's mind. He wasn't really sure which emotion to feel for this. He was scared that Bill had twisted Mabel's words and made a deal with her. But he was hurt that she would destroy the Journals for it. He was touched she didn't want to from his apology and she just wanted him safe. Over all the remaining emotion was worry of finding a way out of things and watching this puppet reflect her sobs.

Gently he took the puppet, guessing his sister was standing somewhere there, and hugged the air.

"Mabel.. It's my fault..", Dipper said quietly. "If I wasn't mad at you... Bill wouldn't have had a chance to get at you.. I'm sorry.."

"Dipper...", Mabel's voice echoed sadly.

"No. I'm gonna find a way to get him out of your body.", Dipper was a bit more firm as he backed up. "We're gonna get him our of your body and keep you safe."

"...Thanks Dipper..", Mabel's voice sounded appreciative.

"Dipper we've got Mabill's body tied up to the table and-", Stanley came into the room and stopped short of seeing Dipper standing there with a floating tiger toy. "..Mabel?"

"Grandpa Stan, I'm really REALLY sorry about what happened...", Mabel apologized. "I made a deal with Bill that I would destroy the Journals to keep Dipper safe..."

Stanley's surprise melted with gentle concern and love. He knelt down to the puppet's height.

"Don't worry, Mabel. Bill Cipher is really clever with lies.", Stanley reassured her. "But we're gonna find a way to get him out of your body, so don't worry, okay?"

"...Thanks, Grandpa Stan..", Mabel said with a small smile to her voice.

"Do we have a spell or something to call out his spirit?", Dipper asked.

"Well..", Stanley scratched the back of his neck. "Umm... It's a bit more difficult than that Dipper.. I don't have a lot of research on Bill Cipher."

"O-Oh?", Dipper asked, his hope starting to weaken.

"And the dreamscape is different than the spiritual scape..", Stanley continued. "I can conjure souls and ghosts. No problem. I... I don't really know about conjuring someone's mental being."

"Sooooo...", Mabel was sounding equally discouraged.

"...I don't have anything written down exactly about how to get Bill out of Mabel's body.", Stanley admitted finally with a heavy sigh. "I can try looking into things, I'm sure there has to be some way but.. I can't just go performing exorcism on Mabel's body. If her body dies, her mind dies away too. And she just becomes a ghost."

Mabel sighed sadly, the puppet lowered a little to reflect her discouragement.

"Well.. Well can we get him to fall asleep and come out like he does with us?", Dipper asked in desperation.

"I don't know, Dipper.", Stanley rolled his eyes a little. "That's the problem. I don't know. I don't have ALL the answers. I was still the middle of studying him when I disappeared. I don't know if he WILL fall asleep, he might just try to drive Mabel's body to stay awake as long as possible."

They retreated to another part of the house to begin researching. Once in a while, they'd check in on Mabill, readjusting the restraints if need be. Bill would shout curses to the Pine's name but they were empty threats, Stanley reassured.

All day long, they searched online, through some of Stanley's old research books. Nothing could be found. By the time the sun began to set, Dipper could barely stand it.

 _'There's gotta be something I can do to save Mabel's body.'_ , he thought to himself as he paced back and forth in his bedroom. _'But what? Bill won't leave her body on his own. I don't want her life to accidentally be taken away!'_

Dipper stopped and looked at himself in a mirror. It was too easy to just see Mabel standing next to him and the agony was almost something to die for.

"...I gotta do something.", Dipper sighed to himself. "But what can I do to get Bill..."

He saw the binder of Journal #3 in his vest. Suddenly a thought dawned on him and his eyes widened with insight.

"That's it!", Dipper exclaimed and then raced downstairs.

Some hours later, Dipper was sent to bed. He tossed and turned.

It felt like forever, but every time Dipper turned to look at the clock, only five minutes would pass. His mind was racing as he laid there.

Half an hour after he went to bed. He figured it was as good of a time as any.

Dipper carefully tip-toed downstairs quietly. The Stan twins were probably still pouring over the Journals in Stanley's room, but he didn't want them to know he was still up. He carefully slipped to the kitchen and hesitated. His heart thumped as he thought about what he was about to do. But if it meant Mabel's safety.. He swallowed and stepped in.

There he saw her body, tied up tightly to the kitchen table. She'd lift her head and drop it on the table, giggling quietly to herself, until the door was closed behind Dipper.

By the sound of the knob clicking into place, the head dropped one last time before slowly turning to face him, the large creepy grin etched into her now. Dipper could look at her and know it wasn't Mabel.

"...Well well well.. Look who thought to come by and check up on me..", Mabill's voice crowed. "Think you've got some sorta cute exorcism spell you can throw on me?"

"No.", Dipper's voice remained firm as he stepped closer. "...I wanna make a deal with you."

Mabill raised a curious eyebrow.

"Hmmm... I dunno, Pinetree..", she shrugged as best as she could, rolling her eyes and looking away from him. "I'm still kinda in the middle of this deal with your sister."

"I know.. But what if I gave you something better than Mabel's body?", Dipper asked.

"Like what?", Bill asked curiously.

"...What if I gave you my body?", Dipper offered.

This earned him a curious look from the demon-possessed child.

"I'm listening..."

"We'll share my body.", Dipper repeated and then pressed on to explain. "You can come in and out of it whenever you want, I won't try to stop you. You wanna stab it? Fine. Go ahead. You.. You wanna make me fall off the roof? Okay. You can possess it for however long you want, when you're done I get it back. But you can always come back any time you feel like it. Door's open man. And I won't possess anything either."

"What's the catch?"

"You can't hurt my friends or family. You can't attack them in my body, you can't give them nightmares, you can't harm them in any way.", Dipper frowned a bit more. "And to be specific, when I say family I mean Stanford Pines, Stanley Pines, Mabel Pines, Wendy Corduroy, and Soos Ramirez...a-and Waddles. You can't hurt Waddles either."

"Hm, I see you were thinking for once this time.", Bill commented dryly. "But what would I want with your body?"

"Well for one it isn't chained up to the table.", Dipper pointed out.

"What if the others just tie up your body?", Bill accused. "You gotta throw in that they can't immobilize me."

"Fine man. Whatever.", Dipper rolled his eyes. "They can't tie you up. But if you wanna go kill someone I haven't mentioned, that's your business and they're free to stop you. What's more is that by having my body, you can be in the physical world whenever you want. And if you can get your hands on the Journals, that's your business too. I can't stop you."

"Ah, now THAT'S more like it.", Bill gave a wide, toothy grin. "Alright, Pinetree. I'm bought. Just shake my hand and the deal's sealed."

Mabill stretched out her hand as best as she could. Dipper looked at the invitation for a moment. He thought back earlier to his grandfather's question and knew his answer. He'd give up everything to have Mabel back.

Dipper took a breath and reached for the hand.

"I thought I heard talking..", Stanley's voice said through the kitchen door before he opened it.

Lee, Ford, and Mabel all gasped seeing Dipper shaking hands with Mabill.

 _"DIPPER!"_ , they cried out.

Dipper groaned a little and felt to his knees. The toy suddenly dropped to the floor and the twins groaned as they collected themselves.

"Kids! What-! Wh-Who's?! Dipper what did you?!", Stanford gasped as he and Stanley rushed in and looked between them.

"Mm..", Dipper rubbed his head and opened his eyes. "Mabel.. Mabel!"

He gasped and stood up, looking at his sister's body.

"Mabel, are you okay?!", he asked panicked.

"Dipper...?", Mabel groaned and opened her eyes. She gasped too and then quickly became panicked. " _DIPPER WHAT DID YOU DO?!_ "

Dipper sighed with relief and leaned his head on the table. Stanford quickly took to untying Mabel.

"Okay, you're safe.", Dipper said to himself. "You're safe, you're fine. It's okay now.."

"No, what did you do?! What did you say to him?!", Stanley demanded to know. "What was the deal, Dipper?!"

Mabel sat up and leaned close as everyone waited for Dipper's answer. He closed his eyes and took a breath.

"...Bill promised he would never harm any of you guys again..", he answered. "..in return for sharing my body."

" _WHAT?!_ ", Stanford and Mabel gaped in unison.

"Kid!"

"Dipper!"

"No, guys listen!", Dipper backed up a little before Ford tried to tie him down. "You can't immobilize the body. You can't tie him down or that breaks the deal and he could still try to hurt you guys."

"What's to stop him from attacking us while he has your body?", Stanley asked pointedly.

"...Well then he'd be breaking the deal..", Dipper's voice got quiet and his eyes lowered to the floor. "And if he breaks the deal... Guys.. I want you to promise me that if he breaks that deal... Someone.."

He took in a deep breath and looked to his right. Eyes narrowed though tears showed, he looked straight at Bill who had been hovering by, waiting to hear this.

"...Someone has to break the body.", Dipper finally finished.

It took a moment for everyone to catch on. Slowly, their eyes widened.

"...Dipper...", Mabel breathed. "You.. You don't mean..."

"Yeah. I do..", Dipper looked back at Mabel. "I mean BEYOND repair. ...Kill the body."

 _'WHAT?!'_ , Bill exploded next to him.

"YEAH BILL!", Dipper shouted back, being the only one able to see him because of the deal. "I will fight you for the body and I will do everything I can to make sure neither one of us has it! They can always summon back my spirit, but you'd be lost in the dreamscape again till you find another victim! _I THOUGHT THIS THROUGH CAREFULLY!_ "

"Dipper...!", Mabel started to sob a little.

"No, Mabel!", Dipper held his hands up. "I'm okay with this... I would rather _die_ than let my body hurt any one of you! Even if you tied Bill down, and you could, the whole deal would be off, he would still be a threat. I don't want him to hurt you. Any of you."

Mabel broke down to tears. Dipper sighed, and started to make his way to comfort her, but suddenly he flinched, his eyes shut tight, and he stepped away.

"Dipper?", Stanley asked in slight fear.

Mabel looked up and a smile spread across Dipper's face. Bipper looked back at the three of them with a dark chuckle.

"Guess again, Glasses.", Bill teased.

Mabel and Stanford backed up to Stanley while Bill practiced closing and opening his hands a little, getting used to the body once more.

"Even if you guys do kill off Pinetree, that'll be a bonus for me!", Bill cackled. "If I can get my hands on the Journals, I don't care what happens to the rest of our contract! So where is it Pinetree? You said I could have them for this little game!"

"Dipper said if you could FIND them, they're yours.", Stanley stated quietly, something clicking in his mind.

"Yeah, so where'd you hide them this time?", Bill checked his vest pockets. "I thought I saw you tuck them in here a few times..."

He frowned and took off the vest. Bipper turned it inside out and shook it, waiting for one if not all three to come falling out. All that did was a black light.

 _'I told you, I thought about this CAREFULLY.'_ , Dipper warned. _'I don't have the Journals with me.'_

"WHERE ARE THEY?", Bill's temper started to flair as he threw down the vest on the floor.

"With me."

Bipper slowly turned to look and Stanley had Journal 1 in his hand. His eyes widened as Stanley tucked it away in his trench coat along with the other two.

" _You..._ ", Bill breathed quietly.

"Dipper gave me Journal 3 a few hours ago.", Stanley looked down at the ground as things clicked into place in his mind. "..he made sure I had all three and told me not to ever give it or the other two back. He said he was scared how much they influenced him but... I see he's picked up a few tips on acting and lying."

Bipper's breathing became heavy as the anger built up inside of him. He screamed and grabbed a nearby knife and ran at them. Mabel screamed and Stanford and Stanley instinctively crouched around her, but the knife stopped cold in its tracks. Mabel looked up, the knife was only a breath away from her. Bipper's eyes dug deep into her's. Utter rage and hatred reflected her fear and despair.

Finally Bipper screamed and backed away, swiping the knife across his chest. Mabel gasped and Stanford pulled her close protectively. Bipper groaned a little from the sudden sharp pain and dropped the knife, but looked about the rest of the kitchen.

He growled and screamed again, grabbing a chair and throwing it across the floor and banging his hands and head on the table and counters. He slammed the drawers and cabinets as hard as he could into the limbs and screamed some more.

Mabel buried her face into Grunkle Stan as tears began to spill. He gently stroked her hair and tried his best to soothe her.

"Shh.. Shh... It's okay, Sweetie..", he said softly into her hair. "He can't do any permanent damage, and he knows it. It'll be okay..."

Dipper's ghost simply stood there, unable to do or say much of anything as he watched Bill hurt his body. He had a feeling Bill would do this and dreaded the rude awakening when he would leave the body for Dipper to deal with the left over throbs.

Bipper finally banged his fists on the counter one last time and panted from the tantrum. He then grew very quiet and still as he slowly calmed down. Mabel turned a little to watch. After a moment, Bipper ran a bruised hand through his hair, accidentally pushing off the hat, and then turned back around. His eyes were wide and crazy and Mabel worried if he was gonna try to kill them anyway. Instead, he marched over and scooped up the knife again. He flopped back into a kitchen chair and it tipped over, but caught at last second on the table.

Slowly, he took a deep breath, placed the knife along his left arm, and then quickly swiped it across. Mabel felt her guts jump as the knife came across and Bipper gasped with pain. He gave a long, shakey, sigh of both relief and delight, a chuckle escaping as he melted back into the chair a little more.

"Ooooohhho ho ho ho.. That's what I needed..", Bill smiled his old wide, psychotic, toothy grin. "Clean, sharp, bloody, stainless steel pain.."

Dipper's ghost sighed and rolls his eyes.

 _'I'm gonna need that arm tomorrow..'_ , he groaned.

"I know, Pinetree. Relax. I'm not gonna stab it and make it useless.", Bill chuckled. "Though it'd be nifty to see what trouble I can get you into at a hospital, huh?"

He swiped it again, a little further down, and then laughed even more. Mabel shivered, watching him, and Stanford turned her away again while he and Stanley kept an eye on the possessed child.

"You know, this IS still pretty nice..", Bipper commented to himself. "Nothing makes you feel more alive than feeling pain and watching your life drip down your body."

Again he sliced his arm, just working his way on down the length of his arm.

"But what can I do with your body? Yeah, you said I could get my hands on the Journals..", Bipper mused to himself, casually waving the knife around as if it was his hand. "But I can't get to it... _YET..._ "

He swiped himself one more time. Stanley couldn't help but groan a little. Half the boy's arm was covered in blood now, and he could smell it from where they stood.

"B-Bill, come on..", Stanley grimaced some. "Do you have to, really?"

"Shut it, old man!", Bipper pointed the knife at him and his eyes narrowed. "It's _MY_ body right now and I can do whatever I want with it!"

 _'Don't you DARE throw that knife!'_ , Dipper warned with a growl.

"Pinetree, get off my back!", Bill scowled back at him and tossed the knife into the air. "I'm not gonna, I already know not to! Geez, when did you become my MOTHER?"

He caught the knife with his left hand by the handle.

"Now I'm gonna think of anything I wanna do with this body and I'll take as long as I wanna with it!"

 _'Hm, you could just NOT possess the body for now!'_ , Dipper argued with a slight smirk.

Bipper's face slowly twisted into an almost pleasant smile that made Dipper regret the sass he just gave.

"...Did I ever tell you I was _right_ handed?", Bill asked sweetly before placing the knife at the shoulder of his right arm and slowly dragging it down the entire length of the arm. It jagged and twisted, unsteady in his left hand.

Both Stans and Dipper all groaned, earning a nice cackle from the demon.

"Now...", Bipper placed the blade of the knife against his cheek, giving a cruel sneer at Dipper. "CAN I still have fun with this body? _HMMMMM..._ "

It was obvious he was already, but he took to making a show out of Dipper's stupidity and arrogance.

 _'Alright, alright, I get it! you can still use my body and make me miserable!'_ , Dipper growled. _'At least there's that!'_

"... _yes_...", Bill hissed quietly, tapping the blade along his chin now. "I can still make you miserable.."

He finally sat up, an idea struck him. He placed the blade in his hand again and looked over at the Pine's family, considering them.

 _'...What are you thinking, Bill?'_ , Dipper asked.

Finally Bill's stern consideration lightened up to another smile and he swiped the blade again.

"Yeah. I can still use this body.", he chuckled darkly.

Stanley and Stanford swallowed hard and Bill twirled the knife in his hand, scraping it up a bit more, so he held it by the tip. He leaned forward, sat the chair back on the floor, and then stepped up onto it.

"I just don't need to use it right now.", he went on, stepping up onto the table now.

 _'You mean you scratched up, caused potential scarring, to my whole body, JUST to say you'll come back later?!'_ , Dipper groaned.

"Yup!", Bipper smiled back at him. "I _REALLY_ needed to ease up the nerves of being left in this puny childish body."

Bill threw down the knife into the table, causing it to stick straight up.

"Hmm..", he paused to look over the blood on his arms and scooped up a handful of the stuff.

Dipper sighed and floated up closer to the body.

 _'PLEASE don't tell me you wanna EAT the stuff...'_ , Dipper grimaced.

"Pfft. I'm not STUPID, Pinetree. Blood's just got the same warm, salty taste every time. Not really my style. I have no idea why vampires like it.", Bipper rolled his eyes and then pressed both his hands together and stretched it out. The warm sticky goop stretched between his fingers. "I just thought it was funny how blood looked like puppet strings..."

Dipper shuddered, watching, but then Bill spun around and saluted the Pines family.

"See ya later, Pines!", he exclaimed, stepping back a little.

Bill flew out of Dipper's body and it fell limply to the floor.

 _'All your's Dipper!'_ , Bill chuckled, floating up to Dipper's ghost. _'Better hurry. Body will probably die in about 10 minutes without one of us.'_

 _'Yeah. Thanks..'_ , Dipper rolled his eyes and floated back to it. _'As if you haven't nearly killed it already..'_

 _'Next time you wanna make a deal and not nearly kill yourself, give the demon what he wants and just leave it at that.'_ , Bill scoffed while Dipper quickly got into his body.

"Dipper!", Stanley exclaimed and quickly came over to check up on him as his body hit the floor.

"Dipper?", Mabel looked back in slight fear.

Dipper's body groaned as reality sunk into his sore, stinging body and slowly he picked himself up.

"Dipper, are you okay? Anything broken?", Stanley asked.

"Ugh.. No I don't think so.. At least this time..", Dipper rubbed his body.

Stanford and Mabel quickly came over too.

"Dipper, I'm sorry I'm SO _SO sorry_!", Mabel was crying as she knelt onto the floor with him and buried her face in her hands. "This is _all_ my fault!"

"No... No, Mabel, don't say that..", Dipper shook his head. "I did it on my own. I thought the whole thing out and I did it on my own. But it's alright."

Mabel looked back at him. Her face was stained with tears. Dipper tried to reassure her with a smile. Though the overall affect mad him looked deranged as he sat there, holding his bleeding chest in pain.

"Mabel, if it means keeping you safe... It's worth it..", Dipper stated, firm in his mind about this.

".. _Is it?_ ", Mabel asked quietly.

Stanley didn't hear her and Dipper barely did, but Dipper was already being helped to his feet by Lee.

"Come on, Dipper, let's get you cleaned up..", Stanley said gently.

Dipper was whisked away to the bathroom and taken care of. When he and Mabel got to bed, he was sore and worn out, but the two almost didn't dare to go to sleep.

"...Dipper...", Mabel began in the still darkness. "...I'm sorry..."

"It's okay Mabel.. You and Bill actually were right. Those Journals were getting to me.. I should've trusted you and Grunkle Stan more. You're my family.. If anything ever happened to you...well...", he tried not to say he would die and took a moment to think of a better answer. "...Well let's just say that even though this is gonna get a little rough to live with at first, we'll get through it. And Grandpa Stanley is still looking for a way to get us out of this. As long as you're safe, that's _all that really matters to me_ right now."

Mabel didn't know if it was just cause he was tired, or if it was just her ears because she didn't want to think so, but judging by the sound of it, Dipper didn't really believe it either.

* * *

 _Laura: Please review! (Ha ha ha ha ha! I love the knife scene. X3)_

 _Amber: *Back from the dead* AW MAN, IT'S GETTING REAL! XD (Awww, poor Mabel, precious baby! ;~;) Btw, we promise not ALL chapters will be this long. xD;;;_


	2. Chapter 2

"Wait, so, ALL of that happened, and I skipped out on the _WHOLE thing_?!", Wendy gasped as she and Soos walked towards work. "Man! I mean, I know that Stan's told us that if the Mystery Shack was ever being invaded by government people we need to stay out of it, but would it have killed anyone to text me when things started getting amazing?"

"Sorry, Dude, but we were kinda busy freaking out and screaming almost all day.", Soos shrugged. "But that's about it. At least, last I knew. I called it a day after we finally got rid of those government agents."

"Yeah..", Wendy pondered this for a moment. "...This new Stan isn't anything like our boss, Stan, is he?"

"Absolutely not, Dude.", Soos laughed a little. "Should like him."

"I just can't get over that Stan had a brother that was actually the author of the Journals, _ALL_ this time!", Wendy smiled.

They finally got to the door and walked inside.

"Dude, it's crazy awesome!", Soos nodded.

"Morning Soos. Wendy.", Grunkle Stan shrugged as he was stalking the remainder of the cabinets.

"Morning, Mr. Pines.", Wendy and Soos greeted.

"Oh, Wendy, umm...", Stanford started a little hesitantly. "There's something you should know.."

"Soos already told me. It's so cool how you got your brother back after thirty years!", Wendy smiled. "Like some kinda weird plot twist!"

"No no, it's not that actually.", Stanford shook his head. "You both need to know about Dipper.."

"Morning, Wendy!", Dipper and Mabel came into the shack.

"Morning, Di-WHOA- _AAAHH!_ ", Wendy and Soos backed up in fear. "Dipper! What happened to you?!"

"Dude! You look like you just lost a fight with some kinda creature made only of claws!", Soos shuddered in fear.

Dipper instinctively rubbed at the scab on his cheek and grimaced a little.

"Oh. Oh... Yeah um..."

"Are you okay, man? Like, what happened?", Wendy asked. "Did you do this to yourself or what?"

"Wendy, Soos, calm down.", Grunkle Stan tried to reassure them. "The kid's doing okay...mostly."

"Okay, but dude, what happened? You didn't look like that when I went home yesterday!", Soos asked, trying hard not to panic.

"Do you guys want the long version or the short one?", Dipper asked.

"Start short and go long if we ask questions.", Wendy requested and leaned back on the counter.

Dipper took a breath and explained to them what had happened. He answered a few questions to Wendy about who Bill was. They listened intently to the deal that he had made and by the time Dipper was done, both looked even more worried than before.

"...So, you just pretty much gave up yourself...to save us?", Wendy asked, slightly touched.

"Yeah..", Dipper looked down at the floor. "I wanted to get him out of Mabel's body.. But I had thought if he'd use my body to get you guys too so I wanted to make sure that didn't happen."

"Aw, dude.. Dude, that's just harsh.", Soos shook his head. "You didn't have to.."

"I know.", Dipper shrugged. "But what's done is done."

"You think you're up for like, socializing or being in the Mystery Shack at all today?", Wendy asked.

"I'll be fine.", Dipper laughed a little with a shrug. "He.. He actually hasn't bothered me yet today."

"Well.. If you're sure man.."

"Yeah, dude.", Soos nodded.

The day was mostly quiet. Dipper and Mabel hung out in the house-end of the place with Stanley while Stanford, Soos, and Wendy tried to clean up the gift shop. The younger set of twins were busy watching TV when Dipper grabbed his can of soda. He started to drink it, but then suddenly started coughing and choking.

" _Whoa!_ Dipper!", Mabel was scared at first but then came over and helped pound his back until Dipper was capable of breathing again. "What happened?!"

Dipper hacked violently till he was red in the face before he could speak, his voice crackled and rasped from the soda.

"S-sure is fun.. ***Cough cough!*** Huh?", he smiled and hacked some more.

"Oh my gosh, Bill! Stop trying to kill Dipper!", Mabel growled.

"Ha ha!", Bill said weakly. "I.. ***Cough cough!*** I think I'm about to ***Cough!*** black out!"

He didn't, but instead managed to clear his throat enough to speak again. Mabel only shook her head and groaned.

"Can you ever give a warning before you just suddenly pop in to hurt him?", she asked.

"Ha ha ha! But then you're not surprised!", Bill snickered. "But don't worry, Shooting Star, I'm not really here to try to kill Dipper that way.."

"If you're trying to get your hands on the Journals..", Mabel warned.

"Nah. I just wanted to talk with you.", Bipper leaned back on the foot of the chair he was sitting in front of.

"I'm not gonna listen to ANYTHING you have to say.", Mabel huffed and turned away from the demon.

"Fine, fine. I just thought it was pretty sad how it's all your fault when all you wanted to do was look out for your brother.", Bill shrugged, swirling the remainder of soda in his can idly. "He's sitting at your feet and you don't even know when he's being possessed!"

"I'm not listening!", Mabel covered her ears. " _La la la la la la!_ "

"Cute..", Bill scoffed and took another sip. "You're just being an annoying sister _YET AGAIN_ to your brother!"

" _La la la-_ AUGH! You know what?", Mabel growled at him and then hugged him tightly.

At this, Bill instinctively flinched and crushed the soda in his hand from the tension of suddenly being touched.

"AaaAAHH! Get off!", he hissed. "You said you weren't gonna restrain me!"

"I'm _not_ restraining you, I'm _hugging_ my brother!", Mabel sassed him. "Deal with it! It's sibling bonding!"

"Gah!", Bill shuddered. "Human emotions! What's with this weird warmth in my stupid puny heart?!"

 _"Sibling BONDING!"_ , Mabel hugged tighter.

"GET OFF OF ME!", Bipper kicked his feet and tried to push her off, but to no avail.

"GET OUT OF DIPPER'S BODY!", Mabel screamed back.

"Do you really think you're gonna just get whatever you want by screaming and hugging me?!", Bill hissed at her. "If it wasn't for this stupid deal, _I'D REACH DOWN YOUR THROAT AND RIP OUT YOUR STOMACH WITH MY BARE HANDS!_ "

Looking back into Dipper's eyes and hearing it in his voice was enough to stun Mabel even momentarily. Bipper had enough of a chance to grab her arms and push them off. He scooted back on the floor to keep distance and shuddered from the contact.

"Uuullggh! I can see why Pinetree hates it so much every time you do that!", Bill gagged.

Mabel's eyebrows furrowed together at this and stood up with her hands on her hips.

"No he doesn't! You're just a horrible twisted freak monster that doesn't know how much siblings can love each other!", she stomped her foot. "I wish I _NEVER_ even met you in the first place!"

Bill looked at her expectantly for a moment and then broke out into a fit of laughter. He fell over onto his back laughing so hard.

"If you never met me, I would've dominated your body and killed off the whole family A _LONG_ TIME ago Shooting Star! Ha ha ha ha ha ha! MAN you're so _stupid_ and gullible! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!", Bill laughed, he held his stomach and chest in pain. "Aah! Ha ha ha ha ha ha-aah! Ah! Oh man! My stomach's killing me for this one!"

"Auugghhhh! I just don't get you!", Mabel growled, pulling on her hair a little. "Why do you even want Dipper's body?! You can't get the Journals! You have no reason to be laughing!"

" _AHA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!_ ", Bill laughed harder and was kicking his feet from it. "NO! _STOP!_ HA HA HA HA HA HA! Stop being so _STUPID_! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

He kept laughing until he finally quieted down into a fit of giggles and tears. He looked back at Mabel finally.

"You just REALLY can't see it, can you? Ha ha ha ha ha! Oh man, that _never_ gets old! Looking at all the pieces in third perspective and you're just a clueless little meat-puppet! Ha ha ha ha!", he laughed giddy like some deranged freak. "You just don't get it... Hee hee ha ha ha! You know how fun it is to make Dipper's life miserable? THAT'S why I'm still sticking around!"

"Well try all you'd like, cause I'll _always_ be there to cheer Dipper up!", Mabel said defiantly.

"Ha ha ha ha! Sure.. _SURE._ You keep telling yourself that, Shooting Star.", Bill smiled at her. "It'll help ya sleep better at night... If I don't come knocking first..."

"Guys, is everything okay?", Wendy came into the room. "I thought I heard screaming?"

"What's shakin', Toots?", Bill turned to her.

Wendy hesitated for a moment, looking at Bipper in confusion.

"Uh..."

"See, this is what I'm talking about.", Bipper got up and gestured towards Wendy, the subject of an example. "Wanna talk about knowing what someone thinks all the time? Man, you've got NO idea how badly Dipper wants know what Red thinks of him."

"Dipper?", Wendy repeated, clueless, and then backed up from Bill a little. "You mean _this_ is that demon guy?"

"Sure am, hot stuff.", Bipper winked and snapped his fingers. "Name's Bill Cipher! Course though, I'm sure Pinetree's told you _all_ about me!"

"UMMMM...", Wendy suddenly became very uncomfortable and frowned at Dipper's body. She blinked a little and shook her head some. "WOW.. Uh.. That's so weird in Dipper's body.."

"Now you know how I feel..", Mabel groaned.

"Hm. You mean to tell me Pinetree never included his ex-girlfriend in this sorta stuff?", Bill asked curiously, though still smirking.

"Ex-girlfriend?!", Wendy blushed a little. "Whoa hold up there, you weird-o demon guy! Dipper and I were never dating to begin with! What on earth made you think that?!"

"Pft. Sure. You _'weren't dating'_ when he kept coming over and watching movies with you in your bedroom.", Bill scoffed. "Yeah, I know all about that too. I've actually had quite a bit of time rummaging through some of Pinetree's memories of you guys while the dumb kid was sleeping. Wanna know how he REALLY felt about you after you smashed his heart all over the ground? Oops! Gave it away!"

"Don't MAKE me hug you again, Bill!", Mabel got between Bipper and Wendy.

"Okay, okay, calm down! Wow! Are all Pines this _sappy_?", Bipper backed up a little and held his hands up in mocking defense. But then he grinned wider. "Get it? _SAPPY!_ Cause you're named after stupid trees! Ha ha ha ha ha!"

"Wow, he's a lunatic..", Wendy shook her head, watching him.

"Tell me about it..", Mabel sighed.

"Wait wait wait! No! I can legitimately call Dipper, _Pinetree Pines!_ Ha ha ha ha ha ha!", Bill laughed some more and held his stomach. "Ooh! Man! It still hurts! Ha ha ha ha ha!"

"...Kinda hard to take him seriously.", Wendy commented.

"Yeah..", Mabel nodded. "But you should see him when he's _MAD..._ "

"Okay, but no, seriously. I've got some bones to break.", Bill chuckled to himself and stood back up. He winked at Wendy again. "Say Toots, how's about later we'll pick up people food as a stupid excuse to be awkward and embarrassing?"

He hurried off and Wendy and Mabel shuddered together.

"Ewwww! Did a demon just seriously try to ask me out in DIPPER'S body?", Wendy asked, cringing at the idea.

"I think he's just trying to mess with you.", Mabel rubbed her eyes. "I know I've always picked on Dipper that he needs to work on his flirting style but.. YIKES."

"Yeah..", Wendy paused for a moment as something clicked in her mind. "..Wait, did he say BREAK _BONES_?"

 _"OH MY GOSH!"_

Mabel ran after him to look out for Dipper's body. Wendy sighed and shook her head, watching the scene.

"This just isn't right..", she told herself.

After Mabel raced upstairs and found that Bill was actually lying to scare her, the demon left Dipper alone once more. The twins calmed down and went back downstairs.

By the time they reached the last step, they heard a knocking on the door.

"Want me to get it?", Mabel asked her brother.

"Nah, I've got it.", Dipper tried to smile. "He's been and gone, I don't think he can really do too much damage right now.."

"You sure?"

"I've got this.", Dipper reassured and walked over to the door. "Watch."

Little could prepare him for the surprise that waited for him there. Pacifica stood, wearing her scarf and coat again, trying to hide herself so people wouldn't recognize her sneaking to the Mystery Shack.

"...If there's another ghost haunting the mansion..", Dipper began with a smirk.

"Pft. Please..", Pacifica scoffed, most likely rolling her eyes under the shades. "Actually, you left something there a few days back. It took a while for the servants to find in our closet but-"

She took off the shades to look at him and cringed. Her eyes widened.

" _Ga-aah!_ Dipper! What happened to you?!", Pacifica took a step away.

"I uh..", Dipper began, unsure how to explain.

"What? Were you in a fight with ANOTHER weird monster or something?", Pacifica asked, shaking her head a little.

"I guess you can say that..", Dipper shrugged and scratched the back of his neck uneasily.

"So, how often is that for you? Cause you can't work the tough-guy-with-scars look.", Pacifica asked, more concerned than it came across.

"It's fine.", Dipper tried to quickly cover. "Why are you even here? I thought you hated this place?"

"Oh.", her worried face fell into the typical sarcasm and she held out a plastic bag. "You left THESE at my house and it took the servants like, _two days_ to get the smell out of them."

Dipper raised a curious eyebrow and took the bag. He opened it up and looked to find a vest, red t-shirt, and shorts folded up neatly inside. His eyes widened a little and his face began to turn pink.

"OOHHH...", he quickly closed the bag and looked away awkwardly. "Oops.. Wow.. Thanks.. Sorry I guess I forgot after Mabel and I left the party so late.."

"Yeah well.. I can't believe you have the exact same pieces of clothes to wear all day long.", Pacifica commented dryly and rolling her eyes, trying to hide her equal slight embarrassment of his clothes being left over.

"Heh. Well it's better than losing myself in a closet that can fit a village.", Dipper scoffed.

"So who's at the door, Dipper?", Mabel came over and gasped with a smile. "Oh hey! Pacifica! What're you doing here?"

"We, uh, left some junk at the mansion. She just came to return it.", Dipper shrugged, tucking the bag away behind him.

"Kinda surprised you didn't just send one of your servants to do that, but whatever!", Mabel shrugged. Suddenly her face lit up with an idea. "Hey! Actually, can I borrow you for a moment?"

"Well.. I shouldn't really stay long..", Pacifica began, but Mabel already started pulling on her arm. "Aah! Okay! Okay, fine! Whatever!"

"This is just gonna be a moment!", Mabel promised.

She ran in with Pacifica in tow. Dipper followed after, but stopped short as she and Pacifica ran past the door to the Mystery Shack. He hesitated and then simply sighed and leaned on the doorway, waiting for Mabel to remember he's not allowed in.

 _'The last thing I need is to choke on a key-chain...'_ , he thought to himself.

"Hey Mabel, what's up?", Wendy asked in the middle of helping line up a shelf with Soos.

"Guys! I just had a _crazy_ cool idea!", Mabel announced. "Dipper's been really upset since yesterday and all and I kinda wanted to make it up to him. What if we all went on a monster hunt?"

"What does that have to do with me?", Pacifica asked, finally jerking her arm away from Mabel.

"Cause you could be in on it too!", Mabel said happily. "You helped Dipper with that ghost!"

"I dunno dude. Isn't monster-hunting like...potentially death-causing?", Soos asked.

"For once, Soos is right.", Stanford crossed his arms disapproving. "With Dipper's condition, what's to say he isn't gonna try plunging the kid off a cliff?"

"What condition?", Pacifica asked.

"Well, see, there's this demon guy who tried to possess me, but now he's sharing Dipper's body because of an agreement he and Dipper made.", Mabel quickly explained. "That's why he's all scratched up."

"Yikes..", Pacifica's eyes widened in horror. "He _did THAT_ to Dipper's body?"

"Well actually, Stanford.", Stanley began. "I'm kinda curious. Dipper is probably feeling a little under the weather about this. What did you have in mind for a monster hunt, Mabel? Not every creature out there intends to kill."

"I dunno. How about a fairy?", Mabel asked with a shrug. "They're smaller than gnomes and.. they're fairies! Could they really hurt Dipper?"

"See, now that doesn't sound bad, it cheers up Dipper, and keeps the kids out of our hair for a few hours while we keep researching and cleaning.", Stanley explained with a smile.

Stanford scratched his chin as he thought it over. "Hmmm... And he DID have to agree to not hurt Mabel, Wendy, and Soos... What about the Blondie?"

"Oh, this is Pacifica, by the way.", Mabel quickly introduced. "Pacifica, this is my Grunkle Stan _ford_ , my Grandpa Stan _ley_ , and our friends Wendy and Soos."

Pacifica waved and Wendy and Soos waved back.

"If Wendy, Soos, and Mabel are all gonna go and swear to keep a _CLOSE_ EYE on Dipper...I don't think there should be any REAL trouble..", Stanley shrugged. "I say the kids should have a little fun to weather through this thing with Cipher.."

"...Okay, but Mabel, you're bringing along a good first aid kit.", Stanford insisted. "And make SURE you keep a _GOOD_ eye on your brother."

"And no need to run around a lot.", Stanley also insisted. "Dipper's still recovering."

"Eh, the kid's pretty fast with that.", Stanford shrugged.

"Yeah An-..."

Stanley simply looked at his brother with a quiet annoyance. After a moment, Stanford began to get a little uneasy from the look.

"...WHAT was that about NOT BEING LIKE _DAD_?", Stanley asked, looking at his brother over his glasses.

"Don't give me that look, _Nerd!_ It's different!", Stanford squabbled. "And Dipper's my great nephew. You were saying I was a father to Wendy and Soos!"

"You still are.", Stanley scoffed and finally turned away from the rabbit trail. "Anyway. So. Mabel, I want you to bring a long a few supplies first. And then I'm sure it would be a great idea if you all went and played with some fairies."

"Wendy, Soos, this isn't part of your pay.", Stanford grumbled.

"It's cool, Mr. Pines.", Wendy smiled.

"YEAH! Monster hunt!", Mabel shouted, enthralled with the agreement. "Pacifica, you wanna come with us, right?"

"Well..", Pacifica hesitated.

She thought it over. She actually wasn't supposed to be out here after what happened at the party. But the idea of finding fairies did sound nice, and with quiet rebelling towards her parents as an added bonus.. Pacifica finally smiled a little and shrugged.

"I guess I could.", she tried to remain indifferent.

"Eee! I'm gonna go tell Dipper!", Mabel ran off with excitement.

Pacifica cringed hearing Mabel squeal in her ear and watched as the other twelve year-old ran to get her brother. She looked back at the rest of the Mystery Family.

"...Is she ALWAYS this excitable?", she asked with a slight disinterest.

"Pretty much... _yes_.", Wendy nodded and then chuckled. "You just gotta roll with it."

Stanley packed Mabel a backpack and slipped Journal 3 in there as well. Mabel suddenly seemed a little hesitant, holding the book.

"Mabel, I'm _counting on you._ ", her grandfather began sternly. "You can't let Dipper know you've got this book, but it should help you get some ideas where to start looking for fairies and how to properly handle them. Okay?"

"...Are you sure it should be _ME?_ ", Mabel asked, a little uneasy. "Dipper's always the one who carries the Journal.."

"Yeah, well, now it's gonna be you.", Stanley nodded. "I have faith that you'll keep everyone safe. You're a very caring person, Mabel. You wouldn't let Bill hurt _anyone_. Not even Dipper."

Mabel took a breath and nodded along.

"Okay. I swear I WON'T let anything happen to Dipper or Pacifica."

"That's a good girl.", Stanley kissed the top of her head, making her smile some more. "You kids have fun. And stay away from mountains. Don't need to stir up trouble with mutli-bears and manitaurs."

"We will Grandpa Stan!", Mabel hopped off the chair next to the counter and ran off with the pack.

She ran out to the porch where the rest of the gang waited. Wendy was finishing up a braid in Pacifica's hair.

"Okay guys, let's go!", Mabel smiled. "Ooh! Nice braid, Pacifica."

"Thanks.", she shrugged a little. "I didn't want my hair to get caught in any of the bushes and stuff. Um.. Thanks, Wendy."

"Hey for a spoiled brat, you're not half bad.", Wendy smiled some with a nod.

The five started off into the woods. Stanley and Stanford watched them a little bit through the windows.

"...Remember back in '82 when we came across that one nest of barf fairies?", Stanley chuckled before turning away.

Stanford laughed a little.

"Yeah.. Fiddleford kept complaining about the barf staining that lame tweed jacket of his."

"I almost couldn't get the sparkles off the journals.", Stanley shook his head with a smile.

* * *

 _Laura: Please review! ^_^_


	3. Chapter 3

_Laura: Aw shit, now I gotta run to keep up and posting sooner! XP_

* * *

The kids walked a good while into the forest. Mabel caught Pacifica up with what was going on with Dipper as they walked ahead of him a little. Little did she know that Bill and Dipper had switched out again. He kept quiet, but he leaned somewhat closer, curious and trying to hear their quieter conversation. Unfortunately, Mabel grew quiet and Pacifica couldn't help but notice. Paz leaned in a little closer.

"Mabel, are you okay?", she asked, seeing Mabel's sullen face.

"...It's just.. With Bill popping in and out of Dipper all the time.. I dunno. I feel like a lot of this is my fault.."

"YOU'RE RIGHT!", Bipper suddenly shoved himself between Pacifica and Mabel, wrapping his arms around their shoulders and grinning widely at Mabel. "IT _IS_ YOUR FAULT!" _  
_

 _'BILL! LEAVE HER ALONE!'_ , Dipper's ghost growled.

Mabel and Pacifica both suddenly flinched away from Bill while he was laughing. Mabel looked scared and hurt.

" _OH_ my gosh, BACK _OFF_! CREEP!", Pacifica shoved Bipper away from them. "Is THIS that demon guy?"

"Yeah..", Mabel said sadly.

"Name's Bill Cipher!", Bill winked at Pacifica.

"Seriously? You're an _all_ -powerful demon guy, but your name is BILL?", Pacifica snickered. "Kinda isn't so threatening. And even if your name IS as dorky as Bill and you're a demon, doesn't it seem a bit degrading that you're relying on a _twelve year-old_ boy's body?"

This actually earned a few gasps from the others. Even Bill's more casual demeanor seemed to take a cold turn South. But then he smiled again and began to applaud her.

 _"Ding ding ding ding!"_ , he chimed, making Pacifica instinctively shiver and realize how thin this ice was. "Well done, Northwest! You're right! Pinetree's body IS a horrible excuse of having a physical being in this world! Just walking out here, in this Summer's sun?"

He shaded his eyes and peered up at the sky.

"Not to mention bug bites and oh yeah. All these scratches and torn up muscle tissue.", he turned his hand around to look at the neat little carvings on the palm. "Yeah, this body is still pretty sore. But you know, make do with whatcha got!"

Mabel wrung her hands a little, guilty-feeling once again while Bill stole a glance her way and smiled a touch more.

"Hmm.. Actually, I don't know if your parents have ever taught you that concept, Princess..", Bill remarked, rubbing his chin a little. "But either way, I should be on my way."

He dropped the body. It doubled over a bit before Dipper took it back. He rubbed his eyes some and then looked back up at everyone's worried faces and made a face himself.

"...It's okay guys..", Dipper tried to reassure with a weak smile. "I'm back."

"...Dude, how'd you just tell that triangle guy off like that?", Soos asked Pacifica. "He could've killed you!"

"Whatever.", she rolled her eyes and folded her arms across her chest. "If Dipper's sane again, can we go back to finding these silly fairies?"

Dipper wanted to take offense to the 'sane' comment, but somehow managed to find himself smiling a bit more and chuckling instead.

"Sure.", he said, starting to walk ahead of the group again. "Though, considering your family's past, you don't really have much ground to call me sane."

"What's THAT supposed to mean?", Pacifica argued, a little suspicious.

"I mean your parents are crazy for thinking you shouldn't come on monster hunts more often.", Dipper smirked back at her.

Pacifica chuckled and the others laughed some too. Dipper noticed Mabel wasn't laughing and he knew why.

"...Mabel, I'm glad you thought of this.", Dipper tried to reassure.

She looked back at him and he could see she was looking at the scratch on his face. He sighed a little and came over.

"Really, I am.", he said gently. "Don't let what Bill said about it hurting get to you. I'm glad we're all hanging out and just..trying to do something fun for once."

She smiled some.

"..Thanks, Dipper.", she said. "I was just really wanting to cheer everyone up. I forgot about how sore you might be feeling.."

"It's okay.", Dipper reassured. "Really, it is. It's... It's not as bad as that first time Bill had my body."

Mabel cringed but the two chuckled some. Dipper nodded ahead of them.

"Let's keep going.", he urged.

"Yeah.", Mabel perked up a little. "Maybe if we find a fairy, we'll be able to fly!"

"Yeah!", Dipper smiled a bit more enthusiastic.

"Actually, guys, I dunno really how we're gonna find one..", Wendy pointed out. "It's not like fairies just leave footprints or something.."

"Oh! I'll-", Mabel suddenly stopped in her tracks and covered her mouth. Everyone looked at her curiously while she tried to think of another way to say it. "...I-I'll just climb this tree! Yeah! For no...particular reason!"

She tried and after a helping hand from Soos, managed to get her way up into the branches and out of sight from Dipper.

"Mabel, you sure you're okay up there?", Dipper called up.

"I'm fine!", she called back.

"Dude, we can't even see you!", Wendy chimed in.

"I've got it!"

Mabel tried her best to sit carefully on a branch and pulled out the journal. She flipped through it quickly.

"There's gotta be something in here...", she mumbled to herself. The runes and spells and monsters and stuff in the book though began to make her eyes swim. She groaned and rubbed them. "Ugh.. How does Dipper just READ this nerd stuff? Here it is.. _'Creature #16. Fairies. These winged creatures are very hard to come across but reside in forms of colonies and nests. They come in a number of different sub...'_ sub? Sub..spec...? What? Whatever. ' _The best way I've found to track them down is to find a darker, quiet location. But beware their wrath if they_ ,' blah blah blah blah blah.. Not really that dangerous. Okay! Found it!"

She put the Journal back in and hurried down as careful as she could.

"Guys, I've got a great idea! Let's find some place that's all shady!", Mabel suggested.

While the others agree, Dipper looked at her curiously. How would Mabel suddenly pop up with an answer like that? Mabel noticed the look and for the moment, the typical twin telepathy took place on their faces.

 _'I kinda had some help..'_ , Mabel thought as she looked away uneasily with a slight shrug.

 _'Ah.'_ , Dipper had an acknowledging face as he pieced together this with her reason to hide. _'Grandpa Stanley must've given her the "thing" and kept it away from me so Bill couldn't get them.'_

"Alright then, let's get going.", Dipper smiled.

"Dudes, why don't we try down that way?", Soos asked, pointing towards thicker brush.

"Yeah, sounds cool.", Wendy nodded.

"Excellent!", Mabel smiled. "Sparkly glittery fairies, here we come! Hey Paz, guess what?"

"Me?", Pacifica asked, surprised by the nickname.

"BWAP!", Mabel pressed her hand on her cheek, making Pacifica cringe a little.

"HEY!", she smacked her hand away and Mabel ran off.

Pacifica took chase and so did Dipper, all three of them laughing. It didn't take long though, for Dipper and Mabel to get tired out so the group returned to a normal hiking pace as they headed deeper into the darker part of the woods.

"Hmm.. So what exactly is it that we're looking for?", Dipper asked.

"I dunno.. Sparkles I guess.", Mabel shrugged.

"Mmm.. Oh! I just remembered, I read this myth-thing about fairies one time.", Pacifica suddenly piped up, surprising the rest of the group.

"Wait, YOU _READ?_ ", Dipper smirked.

"Shut up, nerd.", Pacifica scoffed and rolled her eyes. "I was looking through some family history and they had a few run-ins with paranormals before. So, y'know, course I had to go looking stuff up."

"Ha ha ha ha!", Mabel laughed a little. "I didn't know you knew how to research!"

"Huh, so much for just being a pampered mansion girl.", Wendy teased. "I didn't peg you to like history."

"You know, forget it.", Pacifica huffed a little, folding her arms across her chest. "I don't have to tell you."

"No dude, it's kinda cool. Like Dipper's the myth-buster and you're the history buff or something!", Soos pointed out.

"YEAH! Oh my gosh, you two could be nerds _together!_ ", Mabel gasped with a wide smile.

" _EW!_ NO!", Dipper and Pacifica cringed away from her.

The others laughed some more and Dipper sighed in frustration.

"What were you going to say?", Dipper asked. "Any lead would be better than nothing."

"Well, I was GONNA say, that some legend stuff about them had these 'fairy rings' that like, I dunno. Open a portal to their world or something?", Pacifica tried to explain. "It's like a circle of mushrooms or whatever. And they get like, SUPER mad if people go poking around and they like, banish them and stuff. So all we have to do is find a bunch of mushrooms."

"Certainly plenty around here..", Wendy observed, looking around at the trees and their roots.

"I'm sure we'd find SOMETHING that's in the shape of a circle.", Mabel smiled confidently. "How hard can it be?"

It actually took them nearly about half an hour before anyone actually found anything.

"Hey guys! Over here!", Dipper called out.

Everyone came over to a small glen in the woods. The grass grew up to about Dipper's elbows but out in the middle of it was a small, flat-grassed, area with mushrooms lined up in a neat little circle.

"Whoa!", Mabel breathed, her eyes shimmering with awe. "Is this a fairy ring?"

"Should be..", Pacifica shrugged, a little less impressed. "But I dunno how this is supposed to be some sorta gateway to their world."

"Hmm.. Maybe fairy dust rubs off on these mushrooms while they're coming in and out.", Dipper shrugged.

"But who's gonna go see if it's even real?", Wendy asked.

"Yeah, dudes. What if someone gets stuck there with fairies and elves and stuff?", Soos asked, a little nervous.

"Awesome!", Mabel exclaimed, running up ahead of them in excitement and jumping right into it.

"Mabel, _WAIT!_ ", Dipper exclaimed, nervous of losing her.

Mabel landed, her eyes shut tight. She could practically feel the earth ready to give way to her into a new world! After a moment though she opened her eyes and looked around. Nothing happened.

"...Aw man!", she groaned and flopped back on the grass. "So much for hot elf guys.."

"Sorry Mabel.", Wendy chuckled a little and shrugged. "I'm sure they would've loved to meet you."

"Huh. I wonder why fairies would get so mad about a patch of mushrooms?", Soos asked, leaning down to look at a couple of red toadstools with pink and blue spots.

"Hmm... It is weird..", Dipper mused. "I mean.. If you look at it scientifically, mushrooms only grow around things that are dead. Like trees and stuff."

"Yeah, that's true.", Wendy observed while Mabel was rolling back and forth in the grass, giggling about the small flowers in it tickling her nose. "It's like, one of the _first_ things my dad ever taught me about trees. If something's growing on it, it's a dead tree."

"Well... Wait, don't fairies live in trees?", Pacifica asked. "Like.. A LOT of fairies?"

"Oh hey, yeah you're right!", Dipper brightened up a little. "If you actually think about it, fairies are very small, almost insect like creatures that must repopulate a lot because they would be an easier form of prey! And with fairies living in trees, they must make themselves whole colonies, hundreds, maybe _thousands_ of generations of fairies inhabiting a _single tree!_ "

"So when the tree dies off, it couldn't keep giving them like, fruit and stuff anymore!", Pacifica started to piece together, getting caught up in Dipper's excitement. "And if someone's lived in one home for so long it would be like, super depressing to watch it suddenly be destroyed and they'd be forced to move away."

"Yeah, nostalgic reasons. So this patch of mushrooms is actually more like a _grave site_ for their old homes!", Dipper nodded with enthusiasm. "That's why they'd get so mad! It's like we're disrespecting their old home, or stepping all over a grave!"

"Uh... Dudes?", Soos was looking behind them, noticing a pink sort of glowing coming from the bushes behind them.

"Yeah, look see, there's a stump over there!", Pacifica pointed out a small, gray, hollowed out stump that was sitting in amongst a lot of mushrooms that circled around it.

"Wow!", Dipper smiled.

"Dipper..?", Wendy asked, also noticing the pink glow taking on an intensity as the swarm got closer.

"Who would've guessed?", Dipper went on. "That's amazing! For once! No, Pacifica, this is like, the one and rare time that science and fantasy actually work _together_ and explain this, rather than destroying each other! This is AWESOME!"

" _DUDES?_ ", Soos asked a little louder.

Finally Dipper, Pacifica, and Mabel all paid attention and looked up. A large swarm of pink glittery fairies hovered over them menacingly. Dipper hesitated, looked over, cringed as he saw Mabel was still laying in their mushroom ring.

" _Mabel! Get out of there!_ ", he whispered harshly.

Mabel waited a moment and then quickly scrambled to her feet and raced out of the ring.

" _OH MY GOSH!_ LOOK AT THEM!", she gaped in awe. "They're so _CUTE!_ "

Suddenly a hiss was heard and a smaller section of the swarm swirled around her and began pulling at Mabel's hair and biting and scratching her face.

"OW! _Ow ow ow ow ow!_ Okay! They're NOT that cute!", Mabel cried out. " _THEY'RE NOT THAT CUTE!_ "

Everyone else screamed and they all took off running into the woods, away from the fairy rings. The fairies were in hot pursuit, buzzing around their heads like angry hornets. They did the same to Dipper and the rest as they did to Mabel. And sometimes an unfortunate victim would find sparkly pink barf all over their head or clothes.

"Aahh! Get OFF of me!", Pacifica started swatting at them as they became especially thick.

"Pacifica, look out for that-!", Dipper warned.

She stumbled over a tree root and fell into a puddle of mud. The fairies buzzed around over head, some laughing at her as she slowly picked herself up, shocked by the filth that covered her face, hair, and clothes.

"A-Are you okay?", Dipper asked. "...Pacifica?"

Pacifica looked down at her clothes, quickly becoming stained as the mud sunk into them. The sheer terror of what her parents would say worked its way around in her mind. She wasn't even supposed to BE out here! Suddenly her blood began to boil over in rage.

"This...was... _BRAND NEW!_ ", she screeched and turned on the swarm of fairies.

She grabbed a handful of mud and threw it at them as hard as she could. The mud splattered all over a good portion of the swarm. They screeched and fumbled and were blinded by the thick muck.

"YEAH! IT'S NOT SO GOOD IS IT?!", she yelled at them and slung some more. "SEE HOW YOU GUYS LIKE IT!"

Somehow, the overall affect of Pacifica suddenly handling the situation even though her braid was falling apart and her clothes were a wreck, surprised Dipper. He hadn't noticed his cheeks turning a few shades of a darker pink but soon he found himself smiling and grabbing a handful of dirt too.

"YEAH! Take THIS!", he threw some at the swarm.

The tables had turned as now the kids were fighting against the fairies. Wendy smacked some with her hat, Soos threw some mud. Mabel took off the backpack and began swinging it around, trying to hit as many as she can.

Unfortunately the swinging back and forth with her pack caused the Journal to fly out and land a few yards away. Mabel hadn't noticed as they were starting to win this fight and the fairies began retreating.

"YEAH!", Mabel shouted with victory. "Take THAT!"

"Whoo-hoo!", Wendy and Soos high-fived each other. "That was AWESOME! You were totally _metal_ , Paz!"

"YEAH! Ahhh..", Dipper groaned a little and held his chest in slight pain. He suddenly felt very worn out as he was reminded of Bill's punishment from last night "Wh.. Whoo! We did it!"

"Dipper are you-", Pacifica started to ask but then saw the Journal. "Oh hey, you dropped your journal."

She went over and picked it up. She wiped off some of the dirt from the book's cover before turning around and smiling back at Dipper.

"Oh, yeah! _Thanks Paz!_ ", Dipper started to quickly come over with a wide smile.

"Wha-? No wait, Pacifica, that's BILL!", Mabel warned.

Pacifica's eye's widened a little and she quickly took a step away just before Bipper got his hands on it. His face fell into a dark scowl.

"Give me that book.", he demanded.

"No!", she said, backing up to a tree. "Not if you're Bill!"

Suddenly Bipper suddenly grabbed her and slammed her into the tree. His fingers wrapped tightly around her throat, digging into it some.

"ACK!", Pacifica gagged, she tried to breath. " _S-Stop...!_ "

" _OH MY GOSH BIPPER!_ ", Mabel screamed and quickly ran over to try and pull him off of her.

" ** _GIVE ME THAT JOURNAL, PRINCESS!_** ", Bill barked down at her.

Pacifica struggled, scowling at him, and held the Journal back behind her. He tried to grab for it, but couldn't reach it without taking his hand off her throat.

"N-No..!", Pacifica choked.

"Gimme!", Bill hissed.

With one swift motion from Pacifica, everything stopped. Mabel froze in her tracks as she, Wendy and Soos all groaned from shock and cringed. Bipper's hand twitched away from her throat as he froze up, the unimaginable pain suddenly coursing through his body as her leg flew up between his.

Pacifica gasped for air and both slumped to the ground. The world blackened for a second in her eyes but she looked back while Bipper held himself, tearing up from the pain.

"Ow!", his voice cracked into a new falsetto. "Okay, Pinetree... YOU deal with _this_!"

He left Dipper's body, backing up a good distance in the dreamscape. Dipper knelt down to his body while it was sleeping. He hesitated, trying to imagine and prepare himself for the pain that awaited his conscious. Slowly he braved himself to enter the body.

As soon as Dipper took back his body, another, high-pitched cry was heard and he held himself again, the pain all too new to him. Tears actually did spill this time.

"Oh my gosh, Dipper, _I'm sorry!_ ", Pacifica quickly began to apologize.

"It's okay!", Dipper squeaked out, trying to pick himself back up. "It's alright.. WOW... _Ooooh..._ Oh man, that hurts.."

"Dude, that hurt all the way from over _there!_ ", Soos cringed as they came up. "Are you okay?"

"Can you do... _ANYTHING?_ ", Wendy asked, more concerned than ever while Mabel quickly scooped up the Journal and tucked it away in her backpack again.

"Aa-aah... Yeah.. I'll be fine..", Dipper groaned.

He and Pacifica slowly stood themselves back up. Paz momentarily rubbed her throat, haunted a little by being choked by a demon.

"...I'm sorry.", she said again quietly.

"It's alright Pacifica.", Dipper tried to chuckle a little. "Actually.. It's kinda funny.."

"It _is?_ ", Pacifica asked, almost wondering if Dipper was a masochist or something.

"Yeah.." Dipper smiled a bit and looked at her. "You...practically just kicked _a demon_ out of my body."

It took a moment for it to really sink in, but soon they all laughed. They laughed a lot, actually.

"You just kicked an _all powerful dream demon_ right in the-!", Dipper started to say but suddenly cringed again.

He slapped himself across the face and then stumbled a little before holding his cheek in pain.

"Ow! ...Ow what?", Dipper rubbed his cheek.

Everyone's laughing suddenly stopped as they stared.

"...Was _that_...?", Mabel asked.

"Yeah...", Dipper said, standing up straight again.

"...Dude, _that fast?_ ", Wendy asked, scared for him.

"...Yeah...", Dipper confirmed, looking at his hands nervously. "...I guess he was mad we were laughing at him."

"..How about we just try to calm things down for a little while and...recover?", Wendy suggested, trying to keep her cool but still a little freaked.

The others agreed and they sat around, catching their breathes. Mabel crawled over to where Dipper and Pacifica sat and pulled out the first aid kit.

"Uh, Mabel, I'm alright.", Dipper smiled some, a little curious why she was doing this.

Mabel looked at him with concern, sighed and gently touched his cheek. He flinched, being reminded of its constant sting, and then pulled her hand back and held up her finger to show it was bleeding.

"...You're not okay.", she stated bluntly but sadly. "You're bleeding again and muddy."

She opened the case and then looked at Dipper more seriously.

"Bro-bro... if I ask you what hurts, will you _PLEASE_ give me a _real_ answer?", Mabel asked.

Dipper sighed, at first annoyed, but then soon became very aware that everything was sore and stinging.

"Umm...", he curled up a bit more, sad to say this. "...Everything?"

"Alright. Wendy can you help me?", Mabel asked.

"Yeah, of course."

She came over and the two started to work. Mabel looked around in the case for something to clean the dirt off with, but resided to just using her unicorn sweater instead.

"Mabel, that's one of your favorites.", Dipper sighed.

"It'll be fine, I can always wash it.", she said, wiping away the muck from his cheek.

Dipper simply didn't argue. He allowed his mind to wonder a little as the girls cleaned him up.

"...You know, it's kinda funny..", Dipper noticed. "I remember getting banged up this badly before and everyone just kinda told me to shrug it off.."

"I don't remember _saying_ that.", Wendy argued. "But I think I know whatcha mean. Sorry Dipper, but fighting a little bat in the kitchen or getting bit by a snake when there aren't ANY poisonous snakes out here, it's not so bad."

"Yeah, but this is serious.", Mabel nodded. "You're not getting hurt by accident. You're being _MADE to suffer.._ "

"Yeah, I guess..", Dipper shrugged.

"And this isn't supposed to be offensive or whatever, Dip?", Wendy pressed on. "But you look kinda crazy every time you tell us, _'oh it's nothing guys!'_ You know?"

"Yeah.. But I can safely assure you, I'm NOT crazy.", Dipper smiled but then quickly scowled and turned to the empty space at his right. "I don't need your input on this, Bill! _I'm NOT crazy!_ "

Wendy and Mabel simply looked at each other, knowing that if they didn't know Bill was there and Dipper could see him, he definitely would've looked like a fruit loop.

"Okay then.. Um.. Are you having a hard time breathing?", Wendy asked, using a cotton ball with peroxide on his arm.

Dipper took a sharp inhale from the stinging medicine and then groaned a little. The sharp and throbbing pain in his chest was impossible to really ignore.

"Sorta..", he said, trying to ease up. "Ow.. It hurts to breath deep or fast.."

"Alright, shirt off.", Mabel said, grabbing Dipper's shirt and simply pulling it off. _"Bwoop!"_

" _Ah!_ Mabel!", Dipper blushed red and curled up tightly away from them. "C-Come on!"

Pacifica discreetly turned away from looking but Mabel and Wendy laughed a little.

"Dipper, relax. I've helped patched up my brothers _dozens_ of times!", Wendy giggled.

Dipper rolled his eyes, clearly embarrassed, but slowly eased up to let Wendy clean the reopened scratch on his chest. The red line of injury started off thin, thickened, and then thinned out again in a long clear strike from his collar bone, across to the top of his ribs.

"At least it's not deep.", she commented, trying to be careful while Dipper cringed from the peroxide. "That would've been a problem."

"Yeah.. I thi- _ink..!_ It's only sore fro- _aah!_ -f-from just how many there are..", Dipper couldn't help but keep gasping every time more peroxide was applied.

The girls let Dipper apply some neosporin and patched him up with more bandages. They cleaned each other of fairy scratches too, and Pacifica and Soos, and then put everything up and back in the pack.

"...Dude, you gotta admit though, that was pretty cool with the fairies.", Soos laughed a little, trying to lighten up the quiet mood. "They were all like, _boom!_ In our faces, y'know?"

"Heh. Yeah.", Mabel smiled some. "They were still really pretty to look at too. Even if they were actually vicious little nostalgic-crazy monsters."

"Yeah! I'm actually surprised _Pacifica_ kept up as good as she did.", Dipper smirked over at the Northwest.

"Pft. Please, Dipper, it was just a hike through the woods and a little bit of a run.", Pacifica shrugged. "It's like my typical work out, just ten times more scary and sweaty. I'm not at all surprised though that you losers had a hard time keeping up with _me_ on the other hand."

"Wait, you work out?", Wendy asked, she as well as the group surprised Pacifica would work out at all. But the lumberjack considered her for a moment and shrugged some. "Yeah, you would work out, wouldn't you? Beauty Pageants and all."

"Yeah, exactly.", Pacifica pushed back some of her hair.

"So this is like, your first time _actually_ getting dirty?", Wendy pressed on, earning a few laughs from the others.

"Heh.. Yeah..", Pacifica chuckled. Suddenly her face dawned a new look of terror and her hands more carefully traced the mud that clung to her hair. "Wait.. OH my gosh, I'm like-! Like you guys! _I'm FILTHY!_ "

"Yeah, it's fun!", Mabel smiled widely.

" _NO! it's awful!_ ", Pacifica argued, looking at her with wide eyes. "I'm not even _allowed_ to be with you freaks and geeks, let alone in the middle of the stupid woods! My parents find out about this and they will, literally, _KILL ME!_ "

"Okay, okay, calm down Pacifica.", Mabel tried to reassure. "We'll just head back to the Mystery Shack and clean you and your clothes before you go back."

"Dunno how that would work.", Wendy observed. "Wouldn't she need something to wear until her clothes are clean?"

"Yeah, I don't think we can pull that off...", Dipper nodded some.

"Of course we can. She can borrow some of my clothes till the wash is done!", Mabel beamed.

"Ew. One of your smelly goofy sweaters?", Pacifica cringed.

"It's that or you _go home in dirt and barf._ ", Mabel shrugged.

"Ugh.. _Fine_...", Pacifica groaned.

After everyone had rested some, they began their way back. It was a little after noon when they finally got back to the Mystery Shack and everyone took the time to calm down after what all happened. Dipper came clean about what had happened while Mabel sat Pacifica up with something else to wear. Easy to say, the attempt of finding a sweater that fitted Pacifica's standards was harder than Mabel may have first predicted.

"I'm just saying, a lot of these are ridiculous.", Pacifica scoffed, tossing away her Meow-Wow sweater onto the bed.

"Oh, I'm sure there must be SOMETHING in here..", Mabel dug deeper into her suitcase. "How about.. Hey! How about the Puppy Playing Basketball?"

She held it up and Pacifica simply gave her a bone-dry look with a raised eyebrow. Mabel paused for a moment, shrugged, taking the hint that it was a definite NO, and tossed it in the pile on the bed.

"Alright... I'm guessing not the mini-golf one?"

"Pft. _As if._ ", Pacifica rolled her eyes, picking one off the floor that was covered in hearts. "After I was nearly killed by those whatevers last time?"

"Yeah.", Mabel chuckled. "Good times..."

Pacifica observed herself in the mirror, the sweater held up to her, and then shook her head and tossed it aside.

"Hmm...", Mabel pondered, looking at her messy suitcase over flowing with sweaters.

After a moment, her face suddenly brightened and she flung herself deep into the mound of clothes. She kicked a little bit, struggling to pull herself up and then finally came up with one in tow.

"HA! This should be _PERFECT!_ ", Mabel said, holding it up.

Pacifica looked at the shaggy yellow sweater with the funny animal on it in Mabel's hands through the reflection. She seemed amazingly bewildered.

"...What _IS that?_ ", she asked, turning around to get a better look at it.

"It's a llama sweater made with llama fur!", Mabel beamed with never-ending enthusiasm. "No llamas were harmed in the process!"

"...I-I dunno..", Pacifica frowned a little. "It's kinda... _weird._ "

"Try it! It should go PERFECTLY with your dyed blonde hair!", Mabel insisted, shoving it at her.

Pacifica took the sweater and held it up to herself to look at the overall effect in the mirror. It looked weird to her, ultimately. But somehow, Pacifica couldn't say no.

"...It's made with _expensive llama fur!_ ", Mabel tried to urge.

"Well... Wait, hold up. You _MADE_ these sweaters?", Pacifica asked in astonishment.

"Pft, yeah! Why else do you think I have the perfect one for any occasion?", Mabel asked, as if it should've already been obvious.

"Huh..", Pacifica considered the outfit again, trying to imagine Mabel sitting around with knitting needles or something, just whipping this out of nowhere. "...I guess it'll have to do."

"It's that or go with your dirty muddy clothes!", Mabel shrugged.

" _It'll have to do..._ ", Pacifica restated with more of a tone of begrudging.

* * *

 _Laura: Please review. I'm sorry if it sounds like I'm begging, but I will easily fall into NOT wanting to write unless I have an idea of what all you guys think of it. ^^_


	4. Chapter 4

Sometime later, Dipper and Mabel were hanging out in the living room. Mabel was watching cartoons on TV, Dipper was playing a gameboy he's long forgotten that he packed.

"...Is she STILL in that stupid shower?", Dipper asked, finally noticing the clock.

"If you took a shower more often, you're realize WHY it'd take so long to keep clean.", Mabel scoffed.

Dipper simply rolled his eyes and returned to his game. About 10 minutes later Pacifica finally emerged. Her once golden blond hair was now a very light sandy brown-gold sort of color. Wet and messy from having to towel-dry it. Mabel's eyes widened when she saw Pacifica in her sweater.

"Ha!", Dipper commented first. "Your hair ISN'T a _natural_ blonde!"

"Oh shut up.", Pacifica rolled her eyes. "So my hair's a little brown when it's wet. So what?"

"Forget the hair, that sweater looks AMAZING on you!", Mabel gasped. "It looks _PERFECT!_ "

Dipper smiled a little to himself, then looked over to his left. He frowned a little.

"No, I'm not gonna tell her that.", he said quietly to the empty air. "I thought it looked good on her. You can tell her yourself."

 _'Like I'm gonna waste time in your body just to say one thing.'_ , Bill scoffed. _'Either way, I hope she burns it later.'_

"Dipper, everything okay?", Pacifica asked.

"Hm? Yeah. I'm fine.", Dipper rolled his eyes and shrugged. "So, you picked the llama sweater?"

"It was better than some things.", Pacifica shrugged and then ran a hand over the material. "I'm surprised how soft it is though! I thought all sweaters were just..itchy!"

"Nope! That's the Mabel-manufacturing-guarantee!", Mabel beamed happily.

"I have to say, it's not as bad as I thought it would be.", Pacifica shrugged.

Just then Stanley was passing by the room, looking over a few papers he had printed out.

"Hey Dipper, I think I've got-", he looked up at the three kids and paused.

His eyebrows furrowed together as he studied the children. He looked at Mabel's shooting star sweater. Dipper's pinetree hat. Pacifica's llama sweater. Mabel's _shooting star_. Dipper's _pinetree_ hat. Pacifica's _llama_. Dipper's pinetree and then one last time at the llama sweater.

"...Umm...", he quickly ripped the papers instead, looking a bit paler than before. "Forget it. Uh.. Stanford?"

He started to head off, but then paused and looked back, almost scared. He cleared his throat and tried to shove away the look.

"Um.. Hey, you kids want anything?", he asked.

"...Uhhhhh... I guess maybe some pop-tarts.", Dipper shrugged.

"Ooh, yeah!", Mabel smiled. "They're perfect for breakfast and post-monster-hunting-snacks!"

"...Yeah, I'll go..get some.", he stepped away, looked back, rubbed his eyes to look at them more clearly, and walked out of sight. " _STAN?_ CAN WE TALK... _PLEASE?_ "

"...Your grandfather is seriously weird.", Pacifica commented with a disturbed look on her face.

"..We've all been kinda stressed out lately.", Dipper shrugged a little. "But..yeah he's always been kinda weird I guess?"

"He's actually a lot of fun when you embrace it.", Mabel tried to remain positive.

"Hm.", Pacifica looked around the room a bit and then noticed the game in Dipper's hands as he began to play it again. "What's that?"

"Hm? Oh. _This?_ ", Dipper chuckled some and rolled his eyes. "I know, you're probably shocked I'm still using a gameboy advance instead of the ds or something, but you know, I can't afford new games all the time like you do. But still. Pokemon Emerald is quite a challenge... Especially if you're attempting cheats..."

"...I actually don't know what a..'game boy advance' is.", Pacifica shrugged a little. "I.. I don't play video games."

Dipper and Mabel looked back at her in genuine shock.

 _"...Ever?!"_ , Mabel gasped.

Pacifica slowly shook her head.

"How deprived IS your childhood?!", Dipper gaped.

"Excuse me, I'm not a _loser_ like you two!", Pacifica griped.

"No no no no no. Get your _spoiled butt_ over here. I'm gonna show you a REAL childhood gem.", Dipper scoffed.

 _"EXCUSE ME?"_ , Pacifica could barely believe she was being bossed around like this.

"You're excused! _For once in your entire life!_ ", Dipper smiled back at her, almost laughing. "I'm too sore to get up and _drag_ you and your queen-of-the-world attitude over here to show you this. Now sit down, Northwest. I'll save so I can show you how to play."

"She'll LOVE jigglypuff!", Mabel beamed before Pacifica had a chance to yell at Dipper for his sass. "We'll have her infected with our craziness and random childhood yet!"

 _"YEAH we will!"_

The twins high-fived each other and Pacifica simply shook her head, somehow smiling at this. She came over and sat down in the big arm chair with Dipper, who scooted over a little to make room for her.

"And actually Mabel, I think she'd be more interested in Ninetails or some fancy pokemon like that.", Dipper chuckled.

"No no no no! Show her Skitty! Show her Skitty!", Mabel bounced a little with excitement. "Skitty's _ADORABLE!_ "

"Ew, no I don't have a skitty.", Dipper stuck his tongue out in disgust. "They take like, forever to find and are all girly."

"Pft. I'm sure you must've _at least FOUGHT one._ ", Mabel rolled her eyes.

"...Okay, so maybe there's a picture..", Dipper started scrolling through his pokedex.

While Dipper was showing Pacifica the basics of playing only the largest franchise running for nearly the last two decades, Stanley came back with a couple of boxes of pop-tarts.

"Aw, we could've gotten it Grandpa Stanley.", Mabel smiled in appreciation.

"Nah, it's okay.", Stanley shrugged. "I needed a break from looking at that... _tiny_ computer thing.."

"Ipad.", Mabel corrected.

"Ipad.", Stanley restated. He rubbed his eyes again. "It's still baffling. In the 80's, laptops were JUST coming out as a _high-tech piece of equipment ONLY for the government to use_ and now they're not only _obsolete_ , kids LIVE on them for _hours_ on end, staring at this bright screen and using the _one tool_ that allows you to research anything about the entire UNIVERSE AND BEYOND, to only watch cat videos and laugh at poor grammar jokes."

"Yup.", Mabel smiled just the same. "Memes really are funny if you know the joke!"

"I don't think I _wanna_ bother learning what 'swaggity-something' is SUPPOSED to mean.", Stanley rolled his eyes. "I have enough ciphers to decode alone."

"L-o-l.", Dipper commented with a smirk.

"Laugh out loud?", Stanley nodded. "THAT I know."

"You know _text?_ ", Pacifica asked. "But you don't know an ipad?"

"Kids, I practically INVENTED that.", Stanley chuckled a little. "Course I was surprised by Mabel telling me that it was actually picked up on when computers were more available. But I know even more codes than what I have written in my Journals."

"Cool.", Dipper smiled.

"Thank you.", Stanley nodded. "So I'll come back to check on you kids in a bit. There's something I need to look up in Journal 2."

He walked out again. The kids broke out the pop-tarts and Dipper and Mabel began to munch on them.

"Here, have one.", Dipper offered the box.

"What's in these?", Pacifica asked, taking the box and looking over the ingredients. "...Ew. It's full of carbohydrates and sugar and _fat!_ "

"Pft, what? You READ that stuff?", Mabel giggled. "You're just supposed to eat it!"

"I can't just eat anything.", Pacifica scoffed. "Especially nothing as fatty as this."

"So you mean you never EVER had a pop-tart in your life?", Dipper asked.

"Nope.", Pacifica said with an airy sense of dignity.

"Oh now you HAVE to try one!", Mabel urged. "They're delicious!"

"Ew, no!", Pacifica grimaced.

"But pop-tarts are _the best!_ ", Mabel insisted.

"Yeah, like when you microwave them and they come out all gooey on the inside and super warm!", Dipper laughed a little.

"Yeah! Or how about when you leave them in the freezer for MONTHS on end and then you forget all about them till you have to pull out ice or something and it's like a surprise snack!", Mabel smiled widely.

There was a pause, while everyone stared at her. Her eyes glanced towards the direction of the kitchen and looked back.

"...I'll be right back!", she said with an extra note of enthusiasm.

Mabel ran off to the kitchen with a giggle. Dipper smiled and shook his head.

"What, you think your parents are gonna notice that you ate just ONE little pop tart?", Dipper sneered.

Pacifica frowned at him, knowing he knew he was stepping on a sensitive subject.

"...I'm not gonna eat the pop-tart.", she declared firmly, which accidentally gave way to Dipper knowing that he was winning this.

"SCORE! MYSTERY FLAVORED POP-TART!", Mabel called from the kitchen.

She came bounding back into the living room. Of course, with her braces, she had to be careful to gnaw on it. But she proceeded to do so anyway, slowly wearing out the frozen pastry.

"...You should totally eat one.", Dipper turned back to Pacifica. "At LEAST one."

"Yeah! Come on! Eat it!", Mabel urged, bouncing in her seat a little. "Eat-it! Eat-it! Eat-it!"

Dipper joined in on the chanting as they pressed for her to try.

"Eat-it! Eat-it! Eat-it! Eat-it! Eat-it! Eat-it! Eat-it! Eat-it! Eat-it!"

"No, I'm not gonna..!", Pacifica tried to argue, but the twins kept chanting, never losing beat. "You can't make... WILL YOU STOP CHANTING AT ME!"

 _"EAT-IT! EAT-IT! EAT-IT!",_ the twins chanted louder.

"If I eat this stupid thing, will you STOP?!", she growled.

The chanting only got louder and faster as they were more excited and Pacifica ripped the plastic off of it. She hesitated, then slowly pulled the pastry closer to her lips. She grimaced, already unprepared for whatever this taste was about to hit her. Finally she bit down and the twins let out a yell in their approval and excitement.

" _YEAH!_ GO GO GO GO! EAT THAT POP-TART!", Mabel encouraged.

Pacifica gagged and shuddered. Chocolatey sweetness of the thick dry dough and sticky inside filled her mouth in a manner that was everything less than enjoyable.

"Augh! It's.. _gross!_ ", she groaned and choked it down in a swallow after finishing her chewing. "Ew! How can you guys just EAT THIS?!"

"Like ALL the time.", Dipper laughed and took another bite out of his.

Pacifica looked down at the hot-fudge-sundae of a pop-tart as the feeling of the first bite settled in her stomach. She hesitated, and then brought it to her mouth again.

"Why do I feel like I _have_ to have another bite?", she asked, unable to resist sinking her teeth into it again.

"I guess it's all the preservatives and stuff.", Dipper shrugged. "Makes you wanna eat it."

"Or maybe there's some kinda mind-controlling serum that Japanese spies are using to control us kids!", Mabel laughed.

Dipper and Pacifica chuckled a little too but then Dipper grew uneasy. He took the box and pulled out his black light, trying to find if there was any hidden lead way or codes to if Mabel was actually right.

"...Hey, Dipper, why is this tree moving?", Pacifica asked, watching the screen on the gameboy again.

"Hm? Oh. That's a berry tree.", Dipper shrugged and put the box down. "You collect berries from them. Some of the berries help keep your pokemon healthy. Others you mix up to make them look prettier or smarter."

He went back to showing and Pacifica absentmindedly moved the box from between them to the other side of her so she could scoot a little closer to look.

"So you're basically a legalized poacher?", she asked. "As if monster hunting wasn't enough for you in your day-to-day Summer."

"Ehhh... It's best not to question it, really.", Dipper shrugged. "But you get the gist. Here, you can try it a little. Just walk in the grass and battle pokemon."

Pacifica tried a little and Dipper watched, giving her a tip now and then about how to win better. They played quietly for a while. Then Dipper spoke again.

"Hey, where are the pop-tarts?", he asked, seeing the box was missing.

"Next to me.", Pacifica answered, more than a little entranced by the game.

"Well then hand me a pop-tart.", Dipper asked.

"No.", Pacifica stated bluntly. "I'm in the middle of this battle."

"It should only take five seconds.", Dipper argued.

"Get it yourself.", Pacifica insisted.

"Okay, _FINE._ "

Dipper reached past Pacifica with both arms. The sudden physical contact around her made Pacifica snap upright and super tight and freeze while Dipper struggled to reach around her for the box on the end table. He pushed himself right up against her, almost pushing her over.

"W-Watch it!", Pacifica growled.

"Just hang on!", Dipper's arms strained to reach for the box a few inches away from him.

Typically, she would've been annoyed by being touched at all, but something about it made her face grow warm and her skin crawl. He almost had her sandwiched between the arm of the couch and him when he reached for the box. And when he snatched it and sat back down, Pacifica found herself almost wishing he didn't.

 _"There."_ , he huffed and took out a pack of pop-tarts. "Wow, would that have killed you, Paz?"

He sat the box on their legs between them and leaned back into the seat. For once, Pacifica couldn't answer. She tried to clear her mind and focus back on the game, but found it to be impossible. She couldn't stop feeling him pushing against her and it made her cheeks flush bright red.

She finally sighed and shook her head, which Dipper took to be a sign of her annoyance with him, and finally looked back at the game. She played a while longer but then thought back to the boy sitting next to her, as he scooted a little closer to see it with her.

In truth, part of the real reason why Pacifica came to the shack was to actually spend time with Dipper and Mabel and try to be more of friends with them. She tried to think of something more friendly to say.

"Umm...", she grasped at straws and then finally held the game back. "Think we can share this?"

"Uh, _no?_ ", Dipper scoffed a little, almost wanting to laugh. "Pop-tarts and tacos are one thing, Pacifica. You can't split a gameboy in half."

"Well.. Maybe we can.", she shrugged. "Look, I'll hold one half, you hold the other. And you'll have the arrows, so you can move around."

"I don't think it'll work..", Dipper frowned.

"Just try it, dork. I'm _trying_ to be nice.", she growled a little. "I thought this is what you peasants do all day."

He smiled and shook his head but took the other half of the game. It took a bit, having to scoot closer to get comfortable and be able to see clearly, but after some practice, they managed to get it going. Surprisingly, it worked out pretty nicely. Until it came to facing up against a trainer.

 _"Oh for crying out loud Pacifica!"_ , Stanley could hear Dipper yell from his bedroom. _"I'M the one who taught you how to play! We should be lowering the stats!"_

"That's lame and it takes a long time!", Pacifica argued back, causing the Stan Twins to exchange curious glances. "We should just make the stupid thing faint _NOW!_ Actually, A LOT of your pokemon are lame!"

 _"Give me the stupid game!"_ , Dipper growled, making Stanford choke back a burst of laughter.

"Should we tell them to get a room?", Stanley snickered.

"OR A LIFE?", Stanford snorted.

"They're worse than you and Fiddles!", Stanley finally broke down laughing with his twin.

"Kids!", Stanford rolled his eyes. "What's with these guys?"

"Oh I'm sure they had a _GREAT_ example from you about how to pick a fight with friends.", Stanley laughed some.

"Tch. If you could've even called Fiddles and I friends.", Stanford's tone quickly dropped to colder than he meant.

Stanley's laughter soon died as well and he looked over while Ford was playing with the tab on his Pitt cola.

 _"I WILL KILL YOU PINES!"_ , Pacifica threatened somewhere else in the shack.

 _"YOU COULDN'T IF YOU TRIED!"_ , Dipper shouted back.

 _"WILL YOU BOTH JUST **SHUT UP!** "_, Mabel shouted at the both of them. _"PLAY YOUR NERD GAME!"_

"...Sorry.", Stanley cleared his throat, a little disturbed by how close the kid's bickering sounded like his own past. "Forgot about what happened after the... ...So much changed over the years."

"Probably for the better.", Stanford shrugged. "Anyway, so what's that you're trying to tell me about 'possible foundations of the world'?"

"Just a theory, really.. I dunno.", Stanley shrugged. "I can't piece out Bill's intention on wanting to get rid of these Journals so badly. But if anything, it can't be good. Especially if the kids are involved."

"I was _REALLY_ hoping it could've been buried and forgotten till Dipper picked up that stupid hat..", Stanford sighed. "Those dreams really freaked me out."

"I know.", Stanley nodded. "I still vividly remember."

"Hmm...", Stanford sighed and leaned on the desk, half sitting on it. "...If only there was a way we could just break this deal with Bill and Dipper without hurting the kid."

"Even if we did our part and just bounded Bipper to the table, it doesn't help us with anything. Bill seems intent on keeping the body and it doesn't mean we can exactly get rid of an entity that is comprised of and exists solely as a mentality..", Stanley sighed. "I don't really think we have much in terms of options.."

"Geez. Whatever happened to the good old days when we could just splash a sucker with some annointed water and call it good?", Stanford rolled his eyes.

"You've got me. Whatever's happened in the last thirty years.", Stanley sighed and leaned back in his chair. "...MAN we're _old..._ "

"Yeah, welcome to the reality.", Stanford chuckled.

Stanley laughed a little and rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"Good to be back..", he chuckled.

Back with the kids, after they had settled down from Boss Mabel's threats, everyone was quiet once again. Wendy and Soos took a break from the gift shop and were sitting around watching TV as well. While everyone was content, a thought occurred to Pacifica. She looked around at what everyone was doing.

Typically in the mansion, Pacifica would've been busy doing something to make herself better. A piano lesson, or something. Here, everyone was just vegetating and being lazy. It became more and more likely that this was what most people would deem as "normal" rather than the "special" life she had.

"...Is this what _normal_ kids do all day?", she finally asked Dipper. "I'm usually busy clothes shopping or something."

"Hm. Pop-tarts in one hand. Pokemon in the other hand.", Dipper looked around himself. "6 pack of Pitt cola in the fridge and mindless cartoons and jokes playing on the TV. Sounds like the perfect Saturday-styled veg-day to me."

The others chuckled a little.

"That or we crank up the stereo super loud and have a fun dance party!", Wendy suggested.

"Whoop-whoop!", Mabel and Wendy high-fived.

Pacifica laughed a little.

"Feels weird.", she commented. "Just doing this all day."

"Feels _weird_ to be _normal_? Dude. You're SO not alone.", Soos laughed, making the others laugh more.

"Normal is a relative term.", Dipper shrugged. "Monster hunting is normal for us! This is actually kinda slow-paced."

"So if we're all a bunch of weirdos doing weirdo things, and normal is weird to us, does that make everyone else in town weird and us normal?", Mabel asked, earning a few laughs and groans from the others.

"Aw, come on dude, it's Saturday-styled day-off! Don't make us _think_!", Wendy laughed.

"Yeah, come on Mabel.", Dipper shook his head.

Pacifica simply watched while the others chat. It was dirty and messy and beneath her class, but it was just like back in their grunkle's car on the way to the mansion. Somehow it felt more... _real._ She felt more real. Not being judged by any means or living to an expectation. She smiled a bit more to herself, settled more into the seat, and simply soaked it in for all its worth.

An hour had passed by the house, Wendy and Soos were back to work, and Pacifica began to nod off. The gameboy had become boring as she wondered around, Dipper was watching her quietly, and nestled deeply into the soft fuzzy sweater, she sighed and leaned more into the chair. After a moment, she rubbed her eyes and finally held the gameboy away from her.

"Here you play it, nerd.", she offered. "I'm getting bored with it."

"Thanks. You okay?", Dipper asked, taking the gameboy back.

"I'm fine.", Pacifica wiggled herself a bit deeper into the sweater. "Just... What's taking that laundry so long?"

"Oh! Almost forgot about it!", Mabel hurried off to change it over to the dryer.

Pacifica sighed, only a little annoyed, but was too busy enjoying the moment. It was quiet, peaceful, almost serene. There was a draft in the weird old shamble of a home that would've made her shiver if it wasn't for how warming the sweater made her.

Dipper played the game a little, checked over what all Pacifica had done to his file, saved the game and shut it off. He wasn't really in a mood to play it either. Mabel had come back and the threesome were watching cartoons.

Dipper thought over the day. The fairies were a good laugh, when things started looking up for them. He thought about Bill trying to kill Pacifica and began to worry some again. He looked over. She was nearly asleep at this point, half buried into the home-made sweater. Dipper began to worry about Bill just reaching out and grabbing her again.

 _'...Wait, why am I that worried about it?'_ , Dipper wondered as he took a quick glance around the room. _'I don't see Bill anywhere. But... I don't know when he'll suddenly pop up.. But he was only trying to get her because she had the Journal. But he seemed to really hate Pacifica. Actually, I kinda wonder why Grandpa Stanley didn't really like seeing Pacifica either...'_

Suddenly something moved next to him and Dipper found himself pinned to the couch by a sleeping stereotypical blonde. Paz's head had slumped from above his shoulder on the arm chair to about half way down his chest as she breathed heavily in a deeper snooze.

And for all unfortunate timing, Mabel happened to look over. She stifled a burst of laughter at her brother's bright red face from the awkward position.

"Don't you DARE.", Dipper whispered harshly.

"Sorry it's just..", Mabel really had to work hard not to squeal. "..You got a little...blonde on you...!"

"Yeah yeah.", Dipper tried to gently push her off, but her body was heavier when it was asleep. "Just help me get her off.

"Well why? We're not doing anything.", Mabel asked. "Let her sleep."

"No real reason. I just wanted to get up.", Dipper shrugged.

Suddenly Dipper shivered. He felt a cold breeze pass by him, almost like a hand passing by behind him. An uneasy feeling started to settle in his stomach when Pacifica began to groan in her sleep and frown some more.

"..She must be dreaming..", Mabel pondered, noticing.

"Uh, Mabel?", Dipper looked back at her worriedly.

They both realized Bill's presence and Mabel quickly came over. Pacifica groaned a bit more and brought a hand to her ear, as if shooing something away.

"Stop..", she whined a little.

"Sh-should we do something?", Mabel asked, a little panicked.

"I-I don't know!", Dipper shrugged helplessly.

"Will you..mmm... _n-no_...", Pacifica turned away from Dipper, falling more into the couch. She shook her head a little and then woke up and sat straight up with a gasp.

"Pacifica!", Dipper gasped. "A-are you..? Are you okay?"

He placed a hand on her shoulder and Pacifica suddenly snapped away from him. She looked at Dipper and tried to calm down. She thought over her dream.

"...I'm fine.", she lied, looking down at the floor. "Just.. Just a bad dream."

"You sure?", Dipper asked.

"Wanna talk about it?", Mabel offered.

"It's nothing.", Pacifica shook her head, stealing a quick glance at Dipper again. "Um.. Are my clothes ready yet?"

"I'll go check.", Mabel hurried off.

Dipper hung around a bit, but then soon hopped off the chair.

"I'm um.. Going to my room.", he said, walking out of the room.

"O-oh..", Pacifica slowly shrugged. "Okay, I guess.."

Dipper knew ultimately it wasn't gonna keep Bill from messing with Pacifica's dreams, but somehow Dipper felt she'd be more safe if he wasn't so close by.

 _'That was scary. It's like I FELT him pass by me..'_ , Dipper thought to himself.

 _'Well that's cause I did.'_ , Bill explained, floating up into view through the stairs. _'I WAS gonna possess you again and try to choke her with one of those pop-tarts, but I thought it'd be more fun to mess with her dreams! Boy wasn't THAT the better choice! You should've seen it!'_

"I don't wanna hear it Bill.", Dipper groaned and rolled his eyes. "Why are you bothering Pacifica anyway? She doesn't have the Journals. Grandpa Stan does."

 _'Cause I hate her. It's as simple as that.'_

Dipper reached his bedroom and closed the door behind him.

"I just don't understand why you hate her so badly. I mean, even I get annoyed by her nitpicking at me and all, but geez man. Talk about ruining my life, you gotta go attack my friends and all."

 _'Well that's kinda the funny thing. If she was really your friend, wouldn't you have included her in the deal?'_ , Bill asked.

"I didn't know she'd come over so soon. I didn't plan to see her much at all.", Dipper shrugged.

 _'Just seems kinda funny that for a guy that_ "THOUGHT THIS THROUGH" _, you're getting mad at me when you didn't include your_ girlfriend _into your plans.'_ , Bill rolled his eye.

"WHAT?!", Dipper almost screamed, his face a bright shade of red in less than five seconds. "Whoa, hold up there you freaky triangle! Pacifica Northwest IS NOT my girlfriend!"

 _'WOW.. I do deserve being called crazy, but man! I wouldn't lie to myself like that, Pinetree!'_ , Bill laughed a little. _'I mean that's just pathetic!'_

"I'm not lying! I don't even LIKE Pacifica like that!", Dipper shook his head.

 _'Well then more good news for me cause if you don't like her, then you should have no problem with me messing with her head!'_ , Bill pointed out excitedly before a piece of paper with their contract written down on it poofed into existence near him. _'I mean, if you REALLY cared, you would've remembered to put her IN the contract, but you don't. So she's up for grabs! So why get mad at me? I'm just doing what a demon does best!'_

The contract suddenly disappeared again and Dipper sighed and rolled his eyes. He flopped back onto his bed.

"I don't like her like a GIRLFRIEND. Stop trying to twist my words around. Pacifica is still a friend to me. I just didn't think she'd come over so soon.", Dipper explained himself. "I was only concerned with people I'd be with A LOT. I still don't really want you messing with her though. I don't want her to end up hating us or something."

 _'But that's part of what makes the whole, you-didn't-think-this-through line so much more fun!'_ , Dipper could tell the illuminacho was smiling at him, even though he didn't have a mouth. _'Cause you didn't!'_

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I forgot ONE little detail.", Dipper rolled his eyes and put his pillow over his head to mutter under his breath. "That being that you're a jerk and love to twist things around."

 _'OH REALLY?'_ , Bill's voice echoed demonically, his eye suddenly turning blue, as he still heard what Dipper said.

Downstairs, Mabel came back with Pacifica's dried clothes.

"Here we go! They're still all soft and warm from the dryer!", Mabel said brightly.

"Thanks.", Pacifica smiled some and took the clothes. "I'll just-"

There was sudden loud bang upstairs and an even louder groan from Dipper. Mabel looked up worriedly.

"Is that, Dipper?", she asked.

"I'm guessing _Bipper.._ ", Pacifica looked up, also worried. "Maybe that's why he left..."

Mabel sighed and folded her arms across her chest.

"I really hate this...", she said sadly.

"You and me both..", Pacifica agreed.

She headed for the bathroom and changed. She came out in time for Dipper to come downstairs, a neat little knot swelling up on his forehead.

"You okay?", she asked.

"Yeah.. I'll be fine.", Dipper rubbed the sore spot. "I see you've changed."

"Yeah. I'm going now.", Pacifica shrugged. "Um.. Thanks for the pop-tarts and pokemon."

"Of course.", Dipper smiled a little. He thought back to Bill's teasing and cleared his throat awkwardly. "UM.. Oh yeah. Uh, thanks for 'returning my clothes'."

Pacifica chuckled a little at his teasing.

"Yeah.", she nodded. "Oh yeah. I should return the sweater to Mabel."

They came into the living room and Mabel quickly hugged Paz good-bye.

"You should come over for another monster hunt sometime!", Mabel offered. "Hopefully Bill won't ruin it."

Pacifica smiled a little and shrugged.

"We'll see. Here's the sweater back.", she handed it over.

"Oh no no no no! You should keep it!", Mabel insisted, pushing it back to Pacifica. "As a present! It looks much better on you than me!"

"Whoa, Mabel, really? Are you sure?", Dipper asked, he and Pacifica equally shocked.

"Yeah, of course I am!", Mabel smiled even more.

"But.. You _MADE_ this.. _by hand!_ ", Pacifica looked at the sweater in her hands. "Shouldn't I pay you or _anything?_ "

"Pacifica, we're friends.", Mabel shook her head. "You don't have to give me anything for it."

Pacifica hesitated, but then shook her head and sat the sweater aside and pulled out her purse.

"No no no no. I should pay for a sweater like this.", she insisted.

"Pacifica!", Mabel laughed and rolled her eyes.

"No, Mabel, now shut up and listen to me.", Pacifica snapped back. "I _really_ love this sweater! It's a disgusting hideous shade of yellow, but it's AMAZING and you _MADE IT BY HAND._ There aren't professional fashion designers in _Paris_ that could make prettier sweaters and still make me love wearing them as much as I love this stupid thing. So I _wanna PAY_ you for the hard work YOU put into it so you can hopefully buy _more_ yarn or fabric or whatever to make even more sweaters. Now take the stupid money as a present and a compliment to YOUR hard work!"

She held out a hefty wad of money, but Mabel just stared at her. Her eyes were huge and shimmering and tears started to swell. Dipper knew his sister cherished every compliment on her sweaters, especially ones she made for friends. This was huge.

A tear slipped by and Mabel smiled a little and then smiled a lot and simply hugged Pacifica tightly, way too excited.

"OH MY GOSH! _THANK YOU!_ ", she squealed.

Pacifica was surprised by the sudden hug, but then smiled a little and hugged back lightly, still new to the concept.

"Okay okay okay. Don't have to cry over it.", Pacifica laughed a little.

"No that's _HUGE!_ I never had anyone say that to me before!", Mabel explained, backing up and taking the money. Pacifica picked up the sweater again. "Thank you! No one's ever said they _SHOULD PAY_ for one of my sweaters! I just make them for friends for free!"

"Wow.. You're _really_ generous.", Pacifica smiled. "But seriously, llama fur is REALLY expensive. You should buy and work with more of it."

"Yeah, thanks.", Mabel wiped her eyes some. "I will!"

The twins said their good byes and Pacifica stepped out to the porch. She had phoned for a limo to pick her up a little earlier and it soon pulled up and took her away. Dipper and Mabel watched her leave, smiled at each other, and then walked back inside.

"I can't believe she just gave you that much money for one sweater.", Dipper commented. "I didn't think she loved it THAT much."

"I can't believe she paid SO much! She must've REALLY LOVED IT!", Mabel smiled happily.

"Must've.", Dipper nodded. "Hey, I'm gonna go check on what Grandpa and Grunkle Stan are up to. It's going on 3 and we've hardly seen them today."

"Yeah, sounds good.", Mabel smiled. "I think they're in Grandpa Stanley's bedroom."

Dipper nodded and made his way over. Soos did have the room for a break room, but since Stanley's moved back in, it's been generally agreed that he'd take it back. But with Bill hanging around the house lately, Stanley hadn't had much time in terms of cleaning it up and re-establishing his stay there. Either way, Dipper soon found him and Stanford hunched over one of the Journals at Stanley's desk.

"Umm.. Stan?", Dipper asked.

Lee quickly closed the book and both twins turned around, as if busted about something. Dipper looked between them, almost wondering if now was a bad time.

"...What are you guys up to?", Dipper asked curiously with a shrug. "Mabel and I haven't seen much of you guys."

"Oh well...", Stanley trailed a little.

"Nothing much, really..", Stanford shrugged. "Just a little research."

"Well what about exactly?", Dipper asked, curious as ever. "Maybe I can help?"

"Umm...", Stanley seemed kinda nervous. "...Well...we're still trying to find a way to get rid of Bill..you know.. Without hurting you."

Dipper paused, but soon he began to frown a bit more at the idea.

"...Why?", he asked, a little suspicious. "I've got it under control. As long as Bill and I keep the contract in tact, he can't harm you guys."

The twins looked at each other.

"...Actually Dipper.. I've been meaning to ask..", Stanford began, a little uneasy for once as he looked back at the boy. "Exactly _how good_ do you REALLY think this deal with him is?"

Dipper sighed a little and already they knew he wasn't liking this.

"Hold up now, Dipper.", Stanley said, raising his hands. "Hear us out. It's that... Well.. Is getting yourself mauled and mentally harmed by a _demon_ really worth it? Do you REALLY think we're safer this way?"

"YES.", Dipper scowled. "I wouldn't have agreed to it if I didn't!"

"Kid, he almost _killed_ Pacifica.", Stanford pointed out. "At least, according to Mabel that's what happened."

"Okay, so I kinda forgot about her.", Dipper rolled his eyes. "I didn't know she was coming today!"

"Dipper, calm down.", Stanley tried to ease him. Dipper huffed a little, trying to cool his temper. "I'm just not all that keen on Bill. He's very clever. Maybe you should consider breaking this deal with him and leaving it off with a clean break?"

" _No._ I don't want to.", Dipper refused. "And that's not Bill talking. It's still _me._ I don't wanna break this deal with him! I... _Wh-what were just telling me yesterday about giving up everything for my sister?!_ "

"Dipper, you're _allowing_ him the opportunity to mentally tear you apart to a point of being placed in a mental hospital.", Stanley argued. "It's a bit different than what Stanford put himself through to keep you safe. This is a bigger gamble you're playing..."

"No, you asked me if I would give up the world for Mabel. And you know what I said.", Dipper persisted. "I said NO. I wouldn't give up the world to keep my sister safe... _I would've had to have died before she was in that kinda danger._ "

"I know, _I know._ ", Stanley nodded. "But you don't know what Bill's capable of doing."

"I know he's not capable of hurting you guys! And if being mauled apart by my own body means you're safe then it's _TOTALLY_ worth it!", Dipper argued.

"Kid you don't think this is hurting any of us _RIGHT NOW?_ ", Stanford almost shouted at Dipper. "You wanna talk about keeping Mabel safe, don't you realize how much you're _breaking her heart?!_ "

Dipper remained silent, though still frowning. He was dead-set in his ways and as of right now, he wasn't about to stop.

"...Dipper, we're just trying to look out for you the same way you were looking out for us.", Stanley tried to approach him more gently. "It's what family does."

"I don't want you to try and break this with me and Bill.", Dipper said quietly. "I knew the consequences and I took them just the same. Guys Just...stop. ..Please. It won't do you any good to keep this up. I'm sorry if I'm breaking your hearts, but I feel like it's better this way."

Stanley and Stanford looked at each other again. Stanley simply shrugged and Stanford huffed a little and crossed his arms, scowling at the floor. Neither one of them liked it, but as far as they could see, only Dipper and Bill could break the contract. Even bounding Bill to the table didn't mean that they could keep Bill out of Dipper's body.

"...Dipper...", Stanford sighed and rubbed his eyes a little. "You _REALLY_ didn't think this through.. But aside from that, you don't really know how much it really does hurt _all of us_ to see you suffering like this.. I already felt bad enough for having lied to you all Summer long... Maybe if I didn't, you wouldn't be like this.."

Dipper simply shook his head.

"It might've still happened anyway.. I love you guys.. I.. Do you know how terrifying it was to see Bill possessing Mabel? From my perspective? She's my twin sister!", Dipper sighed a little and looked like he was grasping to find a way to put this in words. "I-I.. She- You saw! She was tied up to the table like we were gonna do an autopsy! And thinking of what Bill's done in my body, thinking about him doing it in _HERS?_ ...Oh my gosh, it's scarier than _ANYTHING_ I've faced _ALL Summer_ long."

Dipper rubbed his temples and shook his head, his imagination carrying the burden of a nightmare alone.

"Kid, we know. Okay? _We KNOW._ We're twins too and we've seen some scary stuff.", Stanford tried to explain.

"I kinda doubt anything you two could've gone through is scarier than that.", Dipper looked at the floor, trying not to tear up. "..I could've lost her or something.."

Another glance at each other and Stanley simply made a gesture to Dipper and shrugged a little. What all could they say to this? Of course it's terrifying and nothing they could say could stop him from feeling like that.

"..I'm not gonna break the deal unless Bill comes and tries to break it peacefully with me.", Dipper said finally.

"...Alright.", Stanley shrugged and looked back at Dipper, making Stanford curious of him giving up just so easily. "I'll stop researching. It'll be okay."

Dipper looked back up and Stanley walked the length of the room to kneel down at Dipper's height.

"I've got a lot of catching up to do with my family anyway.", he tried to smile, though it was hard when he kept imagining Bill hovering nearby. "We'll work around Bill. It'll be okay."

Dipper smiled a little, touched that his grandfather wanted to spend time with him. Happy to know someone was agreeing with him. Stanley pulled him into a hug and Dip hugged back. He looked over Stanley's shoulder at Stanford who only looked at Dipper very gravely.

Ford sighed a little, and then came over as well.

"Yeah well... At least we can tell when it's Bill and not you, kid.", the grunkle came to Dipper's height as well. "Might as well make the most of what we've got."

Dipper smiled a little, but he thought he could detect something a bit more of a disappointment underlying Stanford's comment. Either way, he got them to both stop trying to get him to break this deal and that was good enough. If the deal was called off, Dipper would only want it to be Bill coming to him, asking for it to be.

* * *

 _Laura: So whatcha guys think so far? Lol, hope no one hates me for tying in the silly "12 year-olds should focus on pop-tarts and pokemon" with Dipifica. I'm sure there's way too much of it around the ship as it is. XD_


	5. Chapter 5

The evening was quiet, after Soos and Wendy had left for home. Dipper and Mabel were retelling their crazy adventures over the course of the Summer to Lee in which he'd return with a memory or two of his own past with Ford if it ever came up. Once in a while, Stanford would make a comment or explain a little more, flesh out the difference between what Lee was remembering and what the twins were telling like, "They changed that building to.." or "it's this small family that..". While they were chatting, the TV had been playing and a commercial came on. Lil' Gideon's Big House again.

"Augh, turn that off!", Mabel groaned, sticking out her tongue in disgust.

"With _PLEASURE_.", Stanford rolled his eyes and hit the button on the remote.

"Well what's up?", Stanley asked. "Was that some kinda miniature preacher or something?"

"Ugh, that was Gideon Gleeful.", Dipper rolled his eyes. "He's a couple years younger than us but he's such a pain!"

"The little brat had your other Journal and was trying to steal and tear this place up, kicked us all out and everything, to get his hands on the other two.", Stanford filled him in. "His dad, Buddy, works in a used car lot but Gideon? Ugh. You thought my Mr. Mystery act was bad, the kid puts on this whole telepathy show with a couple of fancy tricks from Journal 2. The Tent of Telepathy he called it."

"Yikes.", Stanley grimaced. "He's only like, what, 10?"

"Yeah and the whole town loves him.", Dipper rolled his eyes. "Not to mention..."

Dipper caught Mabel's more uneasy look and quickly trailed off, looking at the floor. Suddenly everyone was very quiet.

"...What?", Stanley asked, looking between them all, trying to get some hint as to what they were thinking. "What?"

"...Well he kinda had a _thing_ for me?", Mabel started off slowly. "But it was..REALLY creepy. And I didn't like it. I tried to ask him to stop but he just kinda..."

"He kept bullying Mabel into having a relationship with him and nearly killed me when I tried to explain that she didn't like him.", Dipper wrapped up quickly, almost wanting to growl as he glared at the floorboards.

 ** _"WHAT?!"_** , Stanley suddenly shouted, slamming his hands on the table and standing up quickly, scaring both twins for a moment. "You mean to tell me some punk Gleeful was **_emotionally manipulating_** _MY granddaughter?!_ "

"Easy there, Stanley. He's in jail.", Stanford tried to ease him.

"No! I don't care! _NO ONE_ manipulates a Pine's big heart and gets away with it!", Stanley growled. "And he's ONLY TEN?! _OOHHHH_ the boy thinks he wants to play in the magic business, _wait till I show HIM a thing or two about REAL paranormals!_ "

" _STANLEY!_ HE'S IN JAIL FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!", Stanford tried to get through to him.

 ** _"THAT LITTLE MOTHERF-!"_**

"AA-AAH! _NO NO NO NO **NO NO YOU DON'T!**_ ", Ford quickly cut in.

Stanley struggled to not swear and it was a real strain.

 ** _"FFFFF-!"_**

 _"STANLEY.."_ , Stanford warned. "Children's ears are present!"

 _"FFFFFUUUDGE.."_ , Stanley growled and sat back down at the table, obviously not used to censoring around children as he slammed his fist onto the wood once more. "... _Fffffudge_ it."

"Yeah. Yeah, trust me, I know the struggle.", Stanford rolled his eyes.

"...Still wanna show that punk a thing or two, thinking he can just waltz in and start manipulating Mabel, _of all people."_ , Stanley drummed his fingers testily on the table.

"Aw, Grandpa Stan!", Mabel smiled, touched by the thought, though a little uneasy about exactly how fast his temper soared. She hugged him from the side. "Thank you!"

Stanley smiled a little and hugged her back.

"Mabel, you're my family and I love you all very deeply.", Stanley explained a little. "And you're way too young, sweet, and innocent, for a little _gimmick_ like that Gideon to be going around and trying to manipulate that huge heart of yours! I saw it happen way too much with Stanford growing up, I'm not about to let it start happening to you."

"Wait, Grunkle Stan?", Dipper asked.

"Psh, yeah. Who do you think was the emotional one out of the two of us?", Stanley asked, making the Pines Twins laugh again.

"Um, I don't know about _EMOTIONAL._ ", Stanford rolled his eyes a little, embarrassed his tough-guy act was being torn down by his brother. "But I definitely knew YOU were the one with the scary temper when you finally showed it."

"Ah, the key to that is _'finally showed it'_.", Stanley counter-pointed his brother. "As I seem to recall, YOU were the one who would be boiling over _FUMING_ with rage against Dad, especially when we were alone!"

Dipper and Mabel looked at each other and grinned from ear to ear.

"What? Since when?", Stanford asked.

Stanley rolled his eyes, stood up, walked over, and quickly whipped off Stanford's glasses. He traded them with the pair on his face and then proceeded to put on his best impression.

"Ahem.. S _tanley why is it that Dad always hates ME?!_ ", he began to whine in a higher voice, stomping his foot on the floor and making Dipper and Mabel roll with laughter. " _Of CO-OO-OURSE he doesn't hate YOOO-OUUU! YOU'RE the Mr. Right in his eyes! Father is always making us do dumb chores and he always gives ME the hardest ones of all!_ "

Stanley may have been a blurry form in Stanford's eyes, but even then Ford could imagine well enough the faces Lee was making, if not just sneering back at his brother, and the tone of his voice was enough to make Stanford scowl at his brother just the same.

Stanley swapped the glasses again.

" _Stan, calm down._ ", he said more meekly, more gently. " _I'm sure Dad doesn't hate you._ "

" _No I'm REAL sure he does!_ ", he changed the glasses again. " _It's so frustrating! I can never do right in his eyes no matter how tough I try to act! Never never never **never**!_ "

He kept stamping his feet and acted like he was gonna cry. Dipper and Mabel had tears in their eyes, laughing so hard, while Stanford simply shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"I didn't always sound like that!", he protested.

"No, you didn't.", Stanley said in his normal voice with a nod to his brother. "Cause 5 minutes later, you'd be ranting about something else like, _'I can't stand girls! They're the absolute worse! I'd rather eat a bug than play with one! Except for_ Carla McCorckle! _'_ "

Stanley clasped his hands together and batted his eyes.

"Oh my gosh...", Stanford buried his face in his hands.

"OH MY GOSH GRUNKLE STAN!", Mabel squealed. "You had a crush on someone?!"

" _Oh Carla McCorckle!_ ", Stanley continued in his most childish and infatuated voice. " _She's gonna be my girlfriend some day! And then we'll get married and have lots of kids! Just you wait and see! But I wouldn't EVER play with a girl!_ "

"WHOOAA MY GOSH GRUNKLE STAN!", Dipper and Mabel were screeching with laughter.

"Seriously?! And then you actually DATED HER?!", Dipper asked between wheezy laughs.

"Whoa! Whoa! WHOA! _SERIOUSLY?!_ ", Mabel gaped.

"Yeah!", Dipper wiped his eyes dry. "And then something happened to her, I think?"

"OKAY _OKAY._ ", Stanford cut in curtly and swiped his glasses back. He sat them back in place. "No need to go down THAT rabbit trail."

"No no no no! Now I HAVE to hear this!", Mabel insisted, picking herself back up.

 _"NO."_ , Stanford stated firmly, effectively killing the fun everyone else was having.

Even Stanley was made solemn by this and he placed his glasses back on his head.

"...Right. Sorry.", Stanley cleared his throat, glancing at the carpet. "Almost forgot."

Stanford sighed a little and sat back down at the table.

"..It's alright.", he shrugged. "Just.. We don't need to start rabbit trailing onto past love lives.. Kids, why don't you and Stanley trade stories about the zombies or something?"

"Oh boy. ZOMBIES?", Stanley smiled a little and looked over at Dipper and Mabel who exchanged smiles.

It wasn't until late that Dipper and Mabel finally had to climb up the stairs and go to bed. And not that it was a bad thing, the kids were tired out already from laughing so hard and being up too late. It was just a matter of staying asleep that Dipper found to be trouble.

He walked down the stairs. He couldn't sleep. Dipper walked through the house, looking for something to help him somehow, when he noticed a light was still on. It peeked through the cracks in the doorway to the gift shop. He hesitated, but then dared himself to go to the door.

 _'Who's..?'_ , he started to wonder, until he got close enough to the door he could hear a voice.

Mabel's voice.

Mabel's voice _sobbing._

Panic seized Dipper and he quickly came into the gift shop. Mabel was curled up tightly on the floor in the middle of the room, crying. Blood was all over the floor. Hand-prints, large and small, ranging from 6 fingers to 4, splattered the walls and surfaces in the sticky red liquid. An axe laid by Mabel's side, as well as two corpses.

It felt like cold water had poured over Dipper as he stared at his family, now half of them dead. Looking at the door to the outside, he could see Soos's feet. And a little ways off the porch, he was sure it was Wendy.

Slowly Dipper shook his head and came a little closer.

"Mabel..", he breathed, unable to really grasp what had happened.

Mabel gasped and whirled around to look at him. Her eyes were wide and bloodshot from crying.

 _"GET AWAY FROM ME!"_ , she suddenly screaming, scrambling over backwards.

"Wh? Mabel, it's me!", Dipper tried to reach out a hand to her.

Mabel turned and got to her feet. She ran out of the shack crying.

"MABEL! WAIT!", Dipper chased after her.

 _"LEAVE ME ALONE!"_ , Mabel screamed behind her.

"Mabel wait for me!", Dipper called back. "What happened?! Was it Bill?!"

He caught the wrist of her sweater and she jerked to a stop.

 _"NO!"_ , she bawled, and struggled to pull free. **_"NO GET AWAY FROM ME YOU MONSTER!"_**

Dipper felt like the earth shattered underneath his feet.

"..M...monster?", he asked in a quiet, hurt voice.

Mabel slipped out of the sweater and took off again. She almost tripped over a root, but picked herself up and kept running.

"...Mabel..", Dipper felt tears slip down his face.

He took off into the blackened woods after her. The thought of what he had done dawning on him.

 _"MABEL I'M SORRY!"_ , he called out. _"IT WASN'T ME!"_

He felt like the whole world was spinning too fast and he turned around and found himself looking straight at Mabel. She was backed up into a corner, curled up with her face buried into her knees and her legs pulled up to her chest. She rocked back and forth, trying to comfort herself.

"It's my fault. It's _all_ my fault.", she mumbled sadly to herself. "It's _always_ been _my_ fault. _It's MY fault._ "

"...Mabel, no..", Dipper shook his head. "It.. It wasn't your fault! I did what I had to do!"

 _"...It's my fault.."_ , she repeated. _"It's always been my fault.."_

"Mabel! It wasn't your fault! I shouldn't have fought with you!", Dipper felt tears spill down his own face.

Mabel simply shook her head.

"...Just do it..", she said in a quiet, tiny voice. "I lost everything already.. I lost my friends, I lost my family. _...I lost Dipper.._ "

"Mabel?", Dipper's voice cracked as his throat swelled up with held-back sobs.

Suddenly he felt something pull on his wrist. It was like a piece of string had been tied tightly around it, and his hand flew up with a quick jerk. The other flew up too. Dipper felt his skin crawl.

"No.. _No Mabel look out!_ ", he tried to call.

Mabel looked up. She let her arms and legs dropped and simply opened herself up, waiting to be killed.

Dipper's hand flew to the counter nearby and picked up a pair of scissors.

 _"NO! I don't wanna do this!"_ , he begged, sobs escaping him. He struggled to pull his hands down, but found no use in even trying. _"Stop!"_

Mabel shut her eyes tightly and lowered her head.

"Just do it already, Bill..", she gave up sadly.

 ** _"NO MABEL!"_**

The scissors plunged down on her.

Dipper suddenly jolted up in bed. Cold night air filled his lungs and sweat poured all over his face. Dipper panted and looked around, grasping the sheets and reaffirming in his mind their reality. His eyes swept the darkness around him.

The bedroom was barely visible through the pale moonlight. Dipper's eyes soon adjusted, and he looked over at Mabel's bed. His twin sister laid there, turned away from him. Dipper pulled off the sheets and carefully came over to look at her.

At first it looked like she wasn't breathing. Dipper began to panic until she finally heaved a sigh and rolled over onto her back.

Dipper breathed in relief and settled back into his bed. After a while, though, he found he couldn't go back to sleep. So he got up and came downstairs.

When Dipper turned to go into the living room, he was surprised to find Stanford still up and sitting at a table with a few sheets in hand. The two looked at each other as Dipper stepped into the room and it made the younger boy flinch a little, being spotted.

"Sorry..", he said quietly. "Didn't know you were up."

"I'm fine. Are _you_ okay?", Stanford asked. "It's 3:30, kid."

Dipper shrugged a little and his eyes swept the floor.

"Bill's giving me a hard time.", Dipper explained. "Nightmares and stuff."

"Is it Bill or is it your own stress?", Stan smiled a little, half in sympathy half in experience.

Dipper shrugged again, a little clueless as to tell the two apart.

"...Is there a difference?", Dipper half joked before sighing and coming over to sit at the table. "It's nothing too elaborate... I...I ended up... _killing_ everyone.."

His voice grew very quiet, thinking back over the bloody images implanted in his mind. Stanford nodded while he thought it over.

"...Definitely sounds like Bill.", he concluded.

"Probably right.", Dipper sighed. "He probably wants me to be sleep deprived anyway, so I'm not going back to sleep. Not if that's all that's waiting for me there."

"Well might just be only tonight but it's okay.", Stanford shrugged. "Whatever nightmares that flying nacho does give you, think about it this way. It's just Bill. So you'd know those aren't real even for dreams and you've got less to worry about."

"Thanks, Grunkle Stan.", Dipper smiled a little in appreciation.

"Course.", Stan tilted his can of soda to Dipper before taking a sip. "In the mean time, pull yourself up a soda. Looks like we'll be pulling a late-nighter."

Dipper got himself a soda and then came back and sat at the table with him. Stanford had taken the liberty to shuffle the papers back together and set them aside.

"I was meaning to ask, what were you doing up?", Dipper asked as he sat back down and opened his can.

"Well I guess I've just developed a bad habit for staying up too late and running on little sleep.", Stanford shrugged, glancing back at the paperwork. "Tonight's no different. I was probably gonna just fall asleep here at the table in an hour or so."

"Huh.. Whatcha looking at then?", Dipper asked, noticing the stack of papers himself.

At a quick glance, he could see they were printed, copied papers of Journal 3. But a quick glance was all the time he got as Stanford quickly snatched the few papers and drop them behind him on the end table.

"Nothing much.", he shrugged. "Just the old schematics to that portal and monsters. Something more to reminisce over than to actually study right now."

Dipper didn't want to press any further, and the two lapsed into silence as their minds wandered around. Both started thinking of the portal and what had happened only a few days ago. All the shouting that had taken place and the fear and everything that was going on right below their feet.

"...Grunkle (Kid you) Stan (oughta know I'm-) I'm really-", they talked over each other for a moment, paused and then sighed a little.

Dipper leaned back a little in his chair and gestured for Stan to go.

"You first.", he offered.

"Kid, I think we're both thinking it.", Stanford rolled his eyes a little. "Let's just.. 3, 2, 1."

"I'm sorry.", they said in unison.

They stared at each other as their words hung in the air. Both looked equally upset and worried. Stanford tried to shrug it off sooner though.

"Okay, we got that out of the way now..", he took another drink of his cola.

"...I should've had more faith in you..", Dipper sighed.

"Kid, _stop,_ okay?", Stanford sat down his soda. "I wouldn't really have much faith in me either if I was in your shoes. But we're still family, aren't we? I mean, I do still love you. You're my great nephew and all."

Dipper smiled and nodded.

"Yeah. Of course we're still family.", Dipper confirmed. "I still love you too."

"Okay, so can we just put that whole mess behind us?", Stanford asked, looking a little more pained than he'd care to show. "You know what I was trying to do. I didn't mean to hurt you and Mabel. I just..."

"No, I understand.", Dipper nodded some. "Or well.. I kinda do. You were just trying to get Grandpa Stanley back.. You didn't want me and Mabel to be caught in the cross-fire."

"Yeah..", Stanford nodded. "So if we're on the same page, can we just...let it go?"

Dipper smiled back and nodded. At this, Stanford visibly relaxed, and leaned back into his chair. They both drank from their sodas, thinking to themselves for a moment.

"...Soooo...did you help write the journals?", Dipper asked.

"Hm? Yeah, of course.", Ford smiled some.

Dipper smiled a bit himself, too curious of this idea.

"What did you add into it?", he asked. "I can understand McGucket doing the machinery, and I'm guessing Grandpa Stanley was leading mostly into the paranormals.."

"Actually I did more of the paranormals..in a sense.", Stanford shrugged. "Stanley was more about biology as far as supernatural went. I picked up more of the black magic and spell-casting. Runes and whatnot."

"Whoa, SERIOUSLY?", Dipper was shocked and delighted.

"Psh. Why do you think I do my Mr. Mystery act?", Stan asked. "Cheap tricks that rely on smoke and glitter? I know real magic freaks people out, so I put on the cheesiest act to make working more enjoyable on my part and still give the public what they're looking for."

The two talked for a good while until Stan started getting tired. He got Dipper an extra soda to help him through the night, but Dipper didn't remember finishing it, or even realizing he fell asleep.

Dipper woke up in bed the next morning. He looked around. It was late, the sun was way up. Mabel was already dressed and downstairs from what he could tell. He pondered how he got into bed. Finally, he pieced out what Stan had done, slipping Dipper a little sleeping potion into his soda so the kid could rest, and found himself shaking his head at his grunkle. At least it was an uneventful sleep.

The kid got up, dressed, and came down stairs. Everything was calm and happy for once. It almost felt like it could be a normal day. Even breakfast was made and waiting.

"Hey Dipper. Sleep well?", Stanley asked when the family saw him.

"Morning Dipper!", Mabel smiled brightly.

"Morning.", Dipper yawned a little. "I uh.. I was kinda up with nightmares but then I think Grunkle Stan did something to my soda?"

"Yeah, hope you didn't mind. Thought it might help.", Stanford chuckled.

"Yeah, cause drugging your great nephew is a _great_ sign of affection.", Dipper scoffed and then dared to go out on a limb. "So much for no more lying."

"Oh complain complain _complain!_ Did you sleep well? Did I know what I was doing? Yeah, I did! So shut up and have some breakfast.", Stanford teased back with a smile.

"I'll have to return the favor sometime.", Dipper chuckled.

Stanley and Mabel were smiling, listening to them and Lee chuckled.

"At least you two are getting along.", he said.

"Yeah, for once in like, EVER.", Mabel laughed a little.

"What? Get along? _He DRUGGED ME._ ", Dipper laughed, jabbing a thumb at his grunkle.

"Yeah cause _YOU_ had nightmares!", Stanford noogied Dipper.

"And despite whatever's happened in the some 60 years of your ENTIRE LIFE there are some things just will absolutely never change, EVER.", Stanley concluded. "Dipper, I don't blame you for _not_ trusting him."

"Yeah! Grandpa Stan knows what I'm talking about!", Dipper wedged himself out of his uncle's grasp and stood next to his grandpa.

"Nah, I think Grunkle Stan had it right.", Mabel argued just for the sake of arguing. "I probably should've done the same thing when you were up all night with that silly laptop."

"Nu-uh, Grandpa Stan was right.", Dipper argued back, still smiling.

"Grunkle Stan!"

"Grandpa!"

"Grunkle!"

 _"Grandpa!"_

 _"Grunkle!"_

"Well we know who's side of the toast they butter.", Stanley smiled to himself.

Stanford slapped a hand on the table and looked at his brother in disbelief. Lee paused and then shrugged.

"What?"

"Lee, GET WITH THE TIMES.", Stanford laughed, shaking his head. "You're calling _ME_ old!"

"Hey I don't have as much gray hair as you do!", Lee knocked off Ford's fez with a laugh.

"Yeah, but that was _old_ even when we were _YOUNG!_ ", Ford pushed his hand away.

"Coming from the guy that wouldn't get out of the 50's.", Lee teased. "Ya stupid anachronist."

"Anachro-? I don't even wanna try to GUESS what you ramble on about. I _almost_ forgot how annoying your nerding can be!", Stanford rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Ha ha ha ha! If we locked Dipper and Stanley in a lab, would they _explode_ from nerd-overload?", Mabel laughed.

"Ha ha ha ha ha! Yeah, they probably would!", Stanford laughed along.

Dipper and Stanley both rolled their eyes while the other two kept laughing and looked at each other expectantly.

"...So we're the brains. Does that make them the emotional ones or the muscle?", Dipper asked.

 _"...Emotional."_ , Stanley nodded after a moment of though. "Especially Stanford."

Dipper snickered and the two laughed a little.

"Wh-? Now come on, who're you calling emotional? I'm not a crybaby or nothing.", Stanford growled, glaring at his brother.

"Nah, you want emotional, you should've seen how much of a wreck Pinetree was after last night!", Dipper suddenly laughed.

It was like a cold bucket of water fell down on the whole family as everyone looked at Bipper. Only he was laughing.

"Oh no, you _really_ should've seen it, Shooting Star!", Bill went on to say.

"Augh! No! I don't want to hear anything you have to say!", Mabel groaned and covered her ears with her hands.

"Yeah but- _Shut up, Pinetree, she should definitely_ -", Bill turned to his right, arguing with Dipper. "No, come on! _What-_ Alright, no, you listen to me! HEY! _SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO ME PINETREE! THAT NIGHTMARE WAS PERFECT!_ "

He paused, listening to Dipper and then scoffed and threw his head back with a cackle of spite.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! All the more reason to tell Shooting Star! She'd _LOVE_ the part where she was BEGGING you to finish her off!", Bill laughed.

" _LA LA LA LA LA LA LA!_ I'M NOT LISTENING!", Mabel chanted as loudly as she could.

"Really I-", Bill suddenly stopped and noticed the plate of pancakes on the table. "Oh yeah! Human food! Actually that does sound pretty good right now."

"What, you're gonna make Dipper choke on the pancakes?", Stanford asked.

"Psh. NO.", Bill scoffed. "If anyone's gonna kill Pinetree, it's not cause of the _hair_ mixed into your disgusting 'Stan-cakes'!"

Stanley was just about to take a bite of the breakfast but then froze with the fork between the plate and his mouth. He grimaced, shut his eyes tightly, and sat down the fork.

 _"You're sick.."_ , he grumbled under his breath, pushing the plate away. "Nope. Not even gonna..."

"So I'm gonna make sure Pinetree's pathetic body has something else to eat.", Bill continued, walking over to the counters.

Mabel sighed, a little more than upset with Bill taking Dipper's body again. But while Bill was getting what he needed for a bowl of cereal, a thought flickered across her mind. Carefully she tip-toed over to him. Stanley and Ford watched, all too curious of what the young girl was up to.

"Coulda sworn there was SOME kinda spoon here where the knives were..", Bill mumbled to himself as he searched the drawers.

When Mabel was right behind Bipper, she suddenly reached out and started tickling him.

Bill's first reaction was to yelp in surprise. His arms clasped to his sides tightly and essentially trapped Mabel's hands. Quickly, he spun around, dragging Mabel with him, and pinned her to the counter before letting go and spinning the rest of the way around. A steak-knife was in hand and he held it dangerously close to her throat.

 _'BILL STOP!'_ , Dipper's ghost screamed in terror.

" _HEY HEY HEY!_ ", Stanford and Stanley stood up, though unsure what to do, should Bill try to pull something while being that close to Mabel.

Mabel stared back with wide, scared eyes. Bill scowled down at her and then leaned his head as close to her ear as possible.

 ** _"DON'T. DO THAT. AGAIN..."_**, he hissed in a harsh whisper, making her skin crawl and shiver in fear.

Mabel gave a small nod of her head in response. Bill slammed down the knife, inches from her hair, making the young girl flinch and then stalked away silently.

The whole house was uneasy until later when Stanley found Dipper sitting on the porch.

"You okay, kid?", Stanley asked, coming out and sitting with Dipper.

"I'll be fine..", Dipper rubbed the back of his head in pain. "Bill hit my head against a wall and cursed something about how much he hates our family.."

"Well you know, we haven't seen you for over a couple of hours.", Stanley shrugged. "Had to check. You know Mabel was only trying to lighten things up."

"Heh. Yeah, I know.", Dipper smiled a little. "She always does. I don't think Bill likes being surprised too much though."

"Yeah, I've been noticing a few things about his behavior while he possessed you.", Stanley took out his notepad and flipped through a few pages. "Hope you don't mind."

"No, actually that sounds kinda cool.", Dipper leaned over, curious. "Can I see?"

"Of course.", Stanley smiled. "Here."

He flipped to the beginning and held it out for both of them to see.

"I've been keeping a record of when Bill comes in and possible reasons. I can't really pinpoint a motive though. He comes in at such odd times.", Stanley started to explain, while Dipper read it.

He had a list sorted by dates and set time. Every time Bill came in, there was a quote of what he'd say or do, and then a date of when he left, and a tag "reasons" under each visit.

"Cool.", Dipper smiled as he quickly read through the reasons. "May I?"

Stanley shrugged and handed the notepad over. Dipper flipped through a couple more pages. Then he started to frown, and took a breath, looking at it all.

"You okay Dipper?", Stanely asked.

" _...Infernos obedirentrus.._ ", Dipper began to mumble. " _...sollertis expugnandum.._ "

"Dipper?", Stanley tried to hear him.

" _...stultus damnatus paperus!_ ", Dipper held out the notepad at arm's length and it bursted into blue flames.

Stan snapped back, watching the notepad burn in the child's hands. Bipper grinned widely, all his teeth showing, while he watched it crumble into nothing. Even the wires of the pages burned away into ashes. Stan soon sighed when it finished and Bipper flexed his fingers, ridding of any last ashes.

"That was really neat.", he chuckled.

"...Yeah, sure was.", Stanley commented dryly.

"Aw, now don't be so hard on yourself, Glasses.", Bipper stood up and patted him on the shoulder as if it would make him feel better. "You were doing a cute job of trying to figure me out before you let your stupid family get in the way! Especially with a demon who knows more spells than you!"

"Mm-hmm.", Stanley waved his hand off. "You know, you're only proving a point to me. You don't want me to find out about what you're planning, which means it could only be something terrible."

"Tch. _YEAH._ What do you expect from a _DEMON_?", Bill scoffed. "Heh, you know for someone as smart as you, I'd kinda hoped that would've been obvious to _you_ of all people."

"Whatever. Obviously, you're keeping me from my research and have been effective thus far. Can I have Dipper back now? He's kinda depressed.."

"Yeah, you're telling me.", Bill smiled to his right. "Even more so than you think."

"What do you..?"

Dipper closed his eyes and then soon rubbed them and opened them again. Stanley could already tell a difference in the boy's presence.

"Dip? You okay?", Stanley asked.

Dipper looked back at Stanley and sighed a little, looking hurt.

"I'm sorry, Grandpa Stanley, you were working so hard on that.", Dipper began.

"No no, Dipper, don't worry about it.", Lee tried to be reassuring.

"Yeah, but if I wasn't so curious, Bill-"

"Bill's just mad at me and that means I'm getting somewhere in these studies. It's encouraging to me if anything. Don't fret over it.", Stan said over top of him.

"I shouldn't have been so curious.", Dipper folded his arms across his chest. "I probably should've backed off when you mentioned them."

 _"Dipper."_ , Stanley placed a hand on his shoulder and Dipper looked up at him, scared and upset. "Don't let him get to you. It's okay. _Really._ "

Dipper didn't really look like he believed him. He shrugged off the hand and looked back down at the porch.

"I won't..", he said, not sure himself if he was lying or not.

"...Do you wanna talk?", Stanley offered.

"...No. I.. I think I just wanna be alone for a little while...", Dipper went inside. "...up in my room."

Stanley sighed, watching Dipper walk away and brushed back his hair, trying to think of a solution to this.

"Leave it to Bill..", he groaned under his breath. "...poor kid doesn't know how much he's risking his sanity.."

* * *

 _Laura: Thoughts? Opinions? We love long reviews! ^^ (Lol, leave it to Stanley to know what he's talking about most likely.)_


	6. Chapter 6

Before Dipper could have a chance to reach his bedroom, Bipper had decided it was time to wander around the house a little. He was just walking towards the gift shop when Soos came walking in. Bipper backed up a little as the two came close to running into each other.

"WHOA! Easy there, _big guy_ , almost ran over Pinetree!", Bill laughed a little.

"Hm? Oh. Um.. Sorry, Dude.", Soos shrugged, trying not to take offense to the "big guy" comment. "I just walked in. "Hey, you're that Triangle Guy, right?"

"Man, you're large AND slow.", Bill scoffed, making Soos cringe inside a little. "YEAH. I'm _'the triangle guy'_. BILL. You know, like the DOLLAR _BILL_? Think you can remember that? BILL? Or is it too hard for you to keep up with, Question Mark?"

"W-Well I um...", Soos fidgeted a little bit.

"What's going on? Bipper! Back off from Soos!", Wendy groaned, coming over and helping get Soos out of the way. "Don't listen to him man, he's just trying to be a pain."

"Oh look at you, Wendy.", Bill chuckled. "Trying to play 'Mommy' and 'older sister' again! Must be really hard considering you never had a motherly figure to learn from to begin with!"

Wendy flinched and grimaced, hearing this. The reminder of her long-dead mother coming to mind took everything in Wendy not to just whirl around and start beating the illuminacho out of Dipper's body. Again, Bill laughed a little.

" _Oooh!_ Did I strike a nerve there?", Bill chuckled.

"...How'd you even...?", Wendy shook her head and turned to look back at Bipper.

"Psh, you're around long enough you pick up on a lot of things.", Bipper leaned back on the wall casually. "That's why you insist on working at this place for a job. Keeps you away from the chaos of your own family."

"That's not true!", Wendy growled.

" _Sure_ it isn't.", Bill shook his head and rolled his eyes, still smiling.

"Would you stop being such a jerk?", Wendy groaned.

"Leave it to you to even know what a real jerk is when you see one.", Bill continued.

"What's that supposed to mean?", Wendy snapped.

"I mean that because you weren't raised by a more guiding and loving mother, but rather instead left to stick out on your own, cause she committed suicide, you made a bunch of stupid decisions in your life including dating someone you called a jerk and continuing to be friends with someone who was also a jerk for breaking you up with said jerk.", Bill pointed out.

Wendy's eyes widened. She felt like someone had just stabbed a sword straight through her heart and twisted it this way and that to really carve out a hole.

 _'Bill I told you to not hurt Wendy and Soos!'_ , Dipper scolded, floating there next to him.

"Pinetree, you said I couldn't hurt them mentally or physically.", Bill smiled with confidence. "So I'm hurting them _emotionally_. It's tons of fun. See what kinda reaction I stir up?"

 _'So... You mean that's really true?'_ , Dipper asked, looking back at Wendy.

She scowled at him, but she was heaving, like it was taking a lot out of her to keep from screaming. Fists were clenched tightly. Bipper just kept smiling at her. Soos just stared in shock and horror, looking between the both of them.

"Of course it's all true.", Bill sneered.

"You don't know the truth if it hit you in the face!", Wendy finally yelled at him.

"Oh, wouldn't I?", Bill asked.

"NO! Cause you know what-?!"

Wendy had made the mistake of stepping closer to Bill and that was all it took for the demon to grab her by the wrist and pull her down to height before cutting her off with a kiss.

Wendy's eyes were wide as a shiver of absolute disgust crawled down her spine while Bill kissed her, easily taking to feeling more dominate and passionate than seemed natural for Dipper's body.

Bipper was met with a punch in the face though and was sent stumbling back in pain, grasping the side of his face in pain while Wendy groaned in disgust and tried to wipe the feeling off her lips.

"OH HO HO! _MAN!_ Yeah!", Bill laughed, tears coming to his eyes. "Ow! Man, that hurts! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

His nose was bleeding a lot but still the crazy kid smiled widely at her.

"Come on! Hit me again!", he asked, pointing at himself with a wink. "You know you wanna!"

"Oh my gosh, NO you _freak!_ ", Wendy stepped back. "I didn't wanna hurt Dipper's body!"

"Aww come on!", Bill begged, though still smiling. "Seriously, you wanna hit me. You know it. Come on!"

"No, get away!", Wendy was already backing away.

Bill started to chase her like an annoying little sibling and they ran through the house.

"Come on! Just a quick one! Right in the face! Come on, Ice bag!"

Bipper was suddenly jerked by the back of his shirt and lifted off the ground.

"HEY!", he twisted around and found himself face to face with an angry Stanford.

"Alright, you little psycho. Let's knock off the masochistic act.", Ford said sternly.

"Psh. Like I need to listen to _you_...", Bipper shrugged. "I can do whatever I want in Dipper's body, can't I?"

"Yeah, I know. But we don't need to be pulling up the past and making everyone feel worse!", Stanford huffed.

"Hm, like how you did with your _very own brother_ 30 years ago?", Bill asked with a sly smile.

Ford simply glowered at the demon over his brim of his glasses.

"...Not gonna work like that.", he simply said and walked away with the child in tow.

"Aw, come on, you remember don'tcha? You two used to stay up way late in the nights arguing and fighting!", Bill pressed on.

"Yeah, cause of _you._ ", Stanford scoffed. "But you know, now that you mention it, Lee HAS been kinda curious to play catch-up with you. After all, you were _'such a gentleman'_ last you two spoke..."

"Heh. Yeah. I _was._ ", Bill chuckled.

"Maybe we can pick at your brains some if you're planning on sticking around in Dipper's body for now.", Stanford mused.

"Umm...", Bipper frowned, a little unsure sounding. "Like how?"

"Oh you know, get to asking about you. Studying you. Finding out what makes you tick. How you work. How you think.", Stanford listed with a shrug.

"Uuhhhhhhh...", Bipper started fidgeting, trying to get Stanford to drop him. "I don't want to."

"Well why not?", Stanford asked. "You picked at our brains plenty."

"CAUSE.", Bill growled a little. "I don't wanna be buddy-buddy with you two! Now put me down!"

"Nope.", Stanford shrugged. "I'm allowed to do what I want with you on my own business. In fact... If I recall.."

He stopped to hold Bipper up to meet him eye-to-eye. A curious smile seemed to crawl its way across Stanford's face as he considered the demon-possessed boy.

"The contract only said I couldn't restrain you or keep you from hurting Dipper's body.. Doesn't mean I can't keep you from emotionally abusing the others or find ways of MAKING you comply with me...", Stanford mused.

"Isn't child abuse illegal though?", Bill asked, scowling at the man in front of him. "Especially if you're not their legal guardian? You're only borrowing these brats till the end of Summer!"

"As long as the cops don't know and I'm REALLY good at keeping them off my trail.", Stanford smiled a bit more.

"Fine, you know, do whatever you want. Abuse your great nephew.", Bill shrugged indifferently. "Who said I needed to stick around?"

Bipper closed his eyes and the transaction was almost instantly noticeable. Dipper sighed sadly and looked down at the floor when he opened his eyes.

"...Sorry, Grunkle Stan..", Dipper apologized.

"Kid, you didn't do any harm.", Stanford tried to reassure and sat the boy back down on the carpet. "You're fine."

"I know.. But..", Dipper just sighed again and shook his head. "I feel really awful every time Bill emotionally hurts everyone else.."

"Looks like there's another point you forgot to make in that contract..", Stanford noted. "Wanna come talk with me and Stanley? Maybe some nerd-stuff and theories would help you feel better?"

Dipper simply shrugged.

"I dunno..", he said. "I think I wanna go back and apologize to Wendy and Soos."

"Alright.", Stanford nodded. "I guess I can understand."

Dipper made his way back to the gift shop where he found Soos sweeping the floors and Wendy sitting behind the counter. Both looked uncomfortable and both glanced over as Dipper walked in.

"Oh, hey dude.", Soos tried to smile.

"Hey guys..", Dipper waved. "Umm.. I'm sorry about what happened..."

"Dude, it's cool.", Soos reassured. "That wasn't _you_ , right?"

"Yeah but.. I mean, I had no idea about all that stuff Bill was saying..", Dipper looked over at Wendy who sighed a little and rolled her eyes.

"Whatever, Dipper. He's just a psycho.", Wendy huffed a little.

"...And you're mad.", Dipper concluded, scratching the back of his neck.

"I'm not mad at you.", Wendy tried to explain, though her temper was accidentally bleeding into her tone as she avoided eye contact. "I'm just mad at this _stupid_ deal you made."

If anything, that only made Dipper feel worse. Especially because it was HIS idea to begin with.

' _Yeah. You really are a poor decision-maker.'_ , Bill chuckled next to him.

Dipper hung his head a little, letting the words sink in.

When it clicked into Wendy's mind exactly how bad her words could've hurt Dipper, she quickly looked up to apologize, but saw that the boy was already disappearing behind a closing door.

"Wait Dipper-!", she tried to stop him but it was too late.

Wendy sighed, groaned, and smacked her forehead and leaned on the counter.

" ** _Aaaauuuggghhh_** I hate this!", she groaned. "So stupid!"

"Dude, I'm sure Dipper would understand.", Soos tried to remain hopeful. "Maybe you two can talk it out a little later?"

"Yeah..", Wendy sighed. "...I didn't mean it like I was mad at him for making the deal. I just... It's frustrating to have to put up with that stupid demon guy!"

"I know. The dude...er... _Bill..._ It's not easy getting along with that.", Soos shrugged, a little unsure what all he could say at this point.

"Tch. Could say that again.", Wendy scoffed.

"...Dude, you okay about the whole-?", Soos started to ask slowly.

"Do you have something that needs fixing?", she suddenly snapped at him.

Soos flinched and turned away, dropping the conversation entirely.

Unfortunately, that's how it was for Dipper for the rest of the day. At every worst possible time, Bill would swoop in and make everyone feel worse. Mabel climbed the stairs at one point to tell Dipper that dinner was ready, but was met with a sad sight of seeing Dipper pace back and forth in his bedroom, engrossed in a one-sided-hearing fight.

"I know I said you could do whatever you want with my body, but why do you gotta pick on _everyone_?!", Dipper shouted back at Bill over his shoulder. "You're such a pain!"

Bipper suddenly grabbed the vanity near his bed and banged his head hard onto its top. Mabel gasped from her place at the cracked door, she could feel the vibrations of the hit through the floor. The boy stumbled back and groaned. He waited a moment.

"Okay, yeah, I will say it again, _cause it's true!_ ", Dipper growled. "It's not fair to everyone having to put up with listening to _my_ voice insult them and tear them down! You can wreck my body, sure, but why can't you leave everyone else out of things?! You KNOW I meant to not harm them by _ANY_ means!"

Dipper rubbed his head sorely, listening.

"Yeah, yeah. I didn't list it. Should I have written it all down first?", he asked.

Suddenly he slapped himself in the face.

"HELL-LO!", Bipper exclaimed. "YES! You _should've!_ It's how you weirdo introvert-types work, Dipstick! You're such a novice at deal-making! I'd dare say Shooting Star was better!"

Mabel felt her insides knot up as she remembered the events only a few days ago.

Bill had let go of the body again and Dipper held his face in pain. He groaned and somehow slipped down to his knees on the floor. Everything in him was hurting. Bill had been doing more just before Mabel came in to check up on him.

"...it's still worth it..", he said, more to himself than to Bill.

 _'I think you're getting a little punch-drunk there kid.'_ , Bill commented.

"I think _you're...!_ ", Dipper started to snap, but then hesitated. He groaned and curled up tightly where he sat. "...Mm...Whatever... I don't wanna talk about it anymore.."

Mabel quickly wiped her eyes dry, trying not to cry, and hurried downstairs to tell Ford.

Dipper sighed and closed his eyes.

"...it _was_ dumb of me..wasn't it?", he wondered aloud.

 _'Yeah, it was..'_ , Bill replied with cool confidence.

"...it's still worth it..", he shook his head. "As long as you won't possess Mabel again... _It's still worth it.._ "

The whole day was quiet after that. Nothing much to report. Bill left Dipper and even when he came down to eat supper, or was laying in bed, Dipper felt very alone and only grew more and more nervous of Bill's next appearance.

The next day, Dipper was coming down the stairs when he saw Mabel was at the door. He paused and listened a little, curious of who she was talking to.

"I'm sorry girls but I can't go to the mall today.", Mabel was explaining.

"Aw, but you _love_ stalking on cute guys with us!", Grenda pouted from the other side of the doorway.

"I know. I still do! But... Well.. My brother isn't really...feeling like himself lately.", Mabel tried to word herself carefully.

"Are you sure you cannot come for at least a little bit?", Candy asked. "I do not think Dipper would be in too much trouble if you were gone for only an hour.."

"Mm...", Mabel wrung her hands a little. She looked really hurt and upset. Guilt dug deeply into Dipper's heart as she sighed and shook her head, taking a step back. "No. I shouldn't. I should really stay around to keep an eye on Dipper."

Her friends sighed and left. Mabel sighed heavily and closed the door behind them. She left to the living room, obviously hurt about having to say no. Dipper soon followed after.

"Mabel?", he asked, reaching ear-shot with her.

Mabel turned around and she tried to put on a good smile.

"Morning, Dipper!", she said in her cheeriest way possible.

Dipper only frowned a bit more. She was trying really hard to make him feel good, but he knew it was hurting her.

"...Mabel, if you wanna go to the mall with Candy and Grenda, it's okay.", he said, gunning straight to the point.

Mabel's smile faltered a little, but she tried to keep up-beat still.

"But.. I don't want to.", she said, a little disbelieving in herself. "I-I wanna be with you today."

"I'm just saying you don't have to babysit me if you don't want to.", Dipper tried to explain. "Why don't you go on and play with your friends?"

"But I don't want to play with them.", Mabel was persisting.

"Yeah, you do. I know you don't really wanna have to look out for me all day.", Dipper sighed.

Even Mabel's smile now totally disappeared and she looked at the floor.

"...It's okay if you want to go and spy on guys with them. You don't HAVE to be around me. I want you to be happy too.", Dipper explained.

"..I know..", Mabel nodded. "I'd just feel really bad if I left you here at the house alone today."

"I'll be fine.", Dipper smiled some.

"...I still wanna be around you.", Mabel shrugged a little. "I guess I'm just kinda worried about what Bill could do to you."

Dipper smiled a little in appreciation.

"Thanks, Mabel..", he said, touched.

Mabel smiled some more and turned around to head for the kitchen.

"I wonder what Grunkle Stan's making for us for breakfast?", she wondered aloud. "Hope they're not Stan-cakes again..."

"I dunno.", her brother shrugged and followed after. "But if they are.. I think I know how to make them _better.._ "

"Yeah?", Mabel turned around, just in time to see Bipper tackling her and pinning her to the floor.

Bill tried to choke her and Dipper and Mabel screamed, watching the whole thing take place in a matter of seconds.

 _'Mabel!'_ , Dipper shrieked.

He immediately began to pull on Bill and tried to shove him, but it was like pushing on a stone statue. Bill kept a tight grasp, but Mabel's own pushing had an affect on the demon. After struggling, she finally managed to shove him off to her side and began running, screaming in panic.

Bipper quickly recovered and gave chase. They slid into the living room on the wooden floor with their socks and accidentally tripped on each other. Mabel and Bill wrestled while Dipper tried in all vain to get Bill out of his body.

' _Bill you're breaking the contract!'_ , Dipper begged. _'Gimme back my body!'_

"I'M NOT GOING ANYWHERE TIL I GET THAT JOURNAL!", Bill screeched. "And I'll rip it out of your family's _cold dead hands_ if I have to!"

"You're not gonna get those Journals!", Mabel growled.

She kicked him hard in the chest and Bill was sent sprawling across the floor. He hit hard into one of the cabinets between the arm chair and the table and something clattered over head and dropped into his lap.

Dipper's eyes opened wide with horror as Bill looked down at the object. Mabel stared, and then quickly started to back away as Bill held up _one of the 10 hand guns_ that Stanford kept around the house.

 _'Bill.. Bill don't you **dare!** '_, Dipper gasped in horror.

Bipper's lips curled into a large, toothy, evil grin as he cocked the gun and aimed.

He pulled the trigger.

Mabel screamed.

Dipper ran right into the line of fire and found to his dismay that the bullet passed harmlessly through him.

Time slowed and all sound was deafened as Dipper slowly turned around.

Mabel's eyes were wide. Her white sweater was stained with fast-gushing blood. She dropped to her knees in front of him. Bill's cackle echoed in Dipper's head as hot new tears began to pour down the boy's cheeks. Everything became black.

And then Dipper woke up.

The boy gasped, feeling bedsheets instead and quickly sat up in his bed. He looked around. It wasn't too late into the morning. He was still in bed. Bill was no where to be seen.

Neither was Mabel.

Panic quickly gripped Dipper as he ran out of the room and down the stairs.

He stopped short, hearing her voice.

"I'm sorry girls but I can't go to the mall today.", Mabel was explaining.

Dipper could've sworn his heart stopped right then and there. It was the exact same apologetic tone he had just heard.

"Aw, but you _love_ stalking on cute guys with us!", Grenda pouted from the other side of the doorway.

"I know. I still do! But... Well.. My brother isn't really...feeling like himself lately.", Mabel tried to word herself carefully.

Dipper began to worry if he should do anything. Was his whole dream really play out?

"Are you sure you cannot come for at least a little bit?", Candy asked. "I do not think Dipper would be in too much trouble if you were gone for only an hour.."

"Mm...", Mabel wrung her hands a little. She looked really hurt and upset. Terror dug deeply into Dipper's heart as she sighed and shook her head, taking a step back. "No. I shouldn't. I should really stay around to keep an eye on Dipper."

Dipper quickly sprang to his feet and started coming downstairs. He kept looking over his shoulder, waiting to see if and when Bill would appear.

Her friends sighed and left. Mabel sighed heavily and closed the door behind them. She left to the living room, obviously hurt about having to say no. Dipper soon followed after, having just reached the bottom of the stairs as she walked into the other room.

"Mabel?", he asked, reaching ear-shot with her.

Mabel turned around and she tried to put on a good smile. He felt his skin crawl in how amazingly accurate this was, even on his part.

"Morning, Dipper!", she said in her cheeriest way possible.

Dipper only frowned a bit more. She was trying really hard to make him feel good, and that alone really did make him feel guilty. His eyes darted around, trying to keep alert for the dream demon.

"Uhhh... ...Mabel, if you wanna go to the mall with Candy and Grenda, it's okay.", he said, gunning straight to the point.

Mabel's smile faltered a little, but she tried to keep up-beat still.

"But.. I don't want to.", she said, a little disbelieving in herself. "I-I wanna be with you today."

Dipper felt his guts knot up tightly as he panicked and tried to think of a gentle means of getting Mabel out of the house till ten hand guns were safely disposed of.

"I'm just saying you don't have to babysit me if you don't want to.", Dipper tried to explain quickly. "Why don't you go on and play with your friends?"

"But I don't want to play with them.", Mabel was persisting.

There it was again. Mabel was trying really hard to put him first and it was really touching. But it was such a blatant lie, he knew that internally Mabel was kind of upset for not letting herself go to play with them.

"Yeah... You _do_. I know you don't _really_ wanna have to look out for me all day.", Dipper sighed.

Even Mabel's smile now totally disappeared and she looked at the floor. Dipper placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Mabel, I want you to be happy today.", he tried to be gentle.

"..I appreciate that Dipper..", Mabel gave a small smile back at him. "But... I don't want Bill to hurt you today.."

Dipper cringed, hearing her scream again in his head. Frantically he tried to think of something else.

"A-are you sure? Um.. I mean.. I-I...", Dipper ran through a list of people she could go to play with instead of him.

Suddenly a chill ran down his spine as he saw Bill's shadow float by the wall behind Mabel. The list ran faster in his mind as his face paled.

"Dipper, are you okay?", Mabel asked. "You look scared.."

"I'm fine! I um..", Dipper ran a hand through his hair, trying to think. But fear and death kept ringing in his head until finally the memory of Pacifica being choked somehow circled around to mind. _"Pacifica!"_

"Huh?"

"I was actually kinda worried about _Pacifica!_ ", Dipper quickly lied. "I was wanting to ask you to go check on her! Cause you know.. She uh.. She wasn't around the other day or called up and let us know she was still cool with us.. Y-You know, after what happened with Bill and all."

" _Oh yeah!_ That actually sounds like a good idea.", Mabel totally bought it. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. All you gotta do is make sure Bill didn't accidentally really scare her really bad or something.", Dipper shrugged. "It should take you only about an hour to get there, check up on her, and get back."

"Okay, cool!", Mabel beamed happily again. "Let's get some breakfast first and then I'll go check on her."

"Great...", Dipper was genuinely relieved, happy to see last night's dream was only purely a dream.

 _"I wonder if Grunkle Stan is making more Stancakes?"_ , Mabel wandered allowed as she turned away, making her brother cringe.

"I-I don't _think so_.", he tried to keep calm, making sure not to sound like Bill. "Pancakes are too expensive..."

* * *

 _Laura: Pancakes come at the cost of **a life!** 83 (Amber: Omigosh, Laura. XDD) Lol. Please leave a review! I love to go back and answer them!_


	7. Chapter 7

_Laura: WHOA! HOLD UP! This is a majorly LONG chapter, even for me! A little over 10,000 words! I'll break it up with *** at a point so you could break down this read for those who have a little less time. Thanks for all your reviews so far! Great motivation to keep this up! Look forward to your next ones when you finish reading through this._

 _Amber: Don't let the size of this chap intimidate you, for_ cuteness _and_ tragedy _lie ahead. 83_

* * *

After breakfast, Mabel was getting ready to head to Pacifica's. She tied her shoes and picked out a new sweater to wear and brushed her hair before running out the door.

On her way out though, something caught around her foot and Mabel tripped, hitting the floor. She looked back and saw it was the yarn and needles to her last sweater project. Mabel stared at it a little longer, remembering what the design was supposed to be. It was an apology sweater for Dipper after the fight they had. And it didn't take too much longer for her to start remembering said fight.

"So Stan puts the WHOLE _WORLD_ in jeopardy to get back _ONE_ person and suddenly EVERYONE calls HIM the hero, and ME the bad guy?!", Dipper growled at her, stomping his foot.

"Dipper, it's just that.. Ugh! You were so persistent that Stan _was_ the bad guy, you didn't even THINK about listening to him!", Mabel argued.

"He's a _professional con artist_ Mabel!", Dipper shouted. "Even he can admit to it! He makes his WHOLE living- _ALL that the Mystery Shack was founded on_ -was lying to people! Even WE couldn't make as much money as he did until we started LYING about what was supernatural! He's _lied_ to us ALL Summer long, WHY do you think I'd stop to listen to him NOW?!"

"Cause he deserved as much of a chance at being listened to as those government guys!", Mabel shouted back.

Everything had been in an almost-non-stop rush since the Author's arrival and the constant uneasiness about Dipper's judgement and what could've happened HAD they pressed the button had built up so much stress in the poor girl she HAD to let it out. Her voice trembled and cracked from shouting like this, but she didn't tear up like when she confronted Stanford. She shook from head to toe, she could practically feel her blood boiling and surging through her veins. It was a terrible monstrous feeling of frustration and rage and nothing could make her stop from keeping it going.

"You know all Summer long you've been trying to prove how smart you are, but all you've been was a big fat-headed dummy!", Mabel continued to shout, stomping her own foot now. "Instead of even giving our grunkle a chance from the very _beginning_ , all you've ever done was argue with him and listened to everyone BUT your _own family!_ "

"That's not true!", Dipper fought back. "Every time I listened to YOU, I got in even _worse trouble!_ I lost my job at the pool because of you! I lost my chance at dating Wendy so you could have Waddles! I've given up _a LOT_ for you Mabel!"

 _"I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT YOU LISTENING TO ME! YOU'RE NOT EVEN DOING THAT MUCH RIGHT NOW!"_ , Mabel screeched, her face turning a bright cherry red from the fury.

Suddenly she snatched off Dipper's hat and slapped it onto her own head.

"OH I'm Dipper! I'd rather pick up a dusty worn-out book that was left by some _stranger_ that could've DIED from 30 years ago and follow its words to the ends of the earth, despite how _crazy_ this man was than just listen to _my own parents_ and tried to make the most of my Summer, visiting _my family!_ I decided to listen to an old crazy man about drinking WHO KNOWS WHAT KINDA POTION it was that could _permanently_ alter my voice! I decided to listen to my own head and _raise the stupid dead instead of letting things be like my uncle tried to tell me_ to cause I just HAD to be proven right! _I LISTENED TO A LYING FLYING DORITO CHIP THAT'S BEEN KNOWN TO LIE AND TRIED TO DESTROY ALL OF US JUST TO GET THE ANSWER TO A STUPID LAPTOP I PICKED UP IN A STRANGER'S CRAZY CREEPY BUNKER!_ ", she screamed and mocked, just letting the rage fly from her. She ripped off the hat and threw it back in Dipper's face. "BUT I WOULDN'T BET MY _LIFE_ ON LISTENING TO MY OWN _FAMILY_ , MY GREAT UNCLE- _MY OWN SISTER!_ HEAVEN HELP THE PERSON THAT TRIES TO MAKE ME LISTEN TO MY FAMILY INSTEAD OF A CREEPY BOOK!"

Dipper caught the hat and scowled at Mabel but she pressed on, just the same.

"You've got NO heart Dipper! _At all!_ And you're really STUPID if you think that journal is worth _more_ than your family!"

His eyes grew wide from the hurt she left in him. But still the boy's own frustration and flat-out anger had gotten the better of him. He placed his hat back on just as what she did sunk into Mabel's mind.

The fog started to clear from her head as she started to realize what kind of hurtful thing she must've just said. Her eyes slowly widened and her shoulders dropped in horror. Dipper gave her a dark look and then turned away.

"...Dipper..", she began softly, tears starting to swell up. "I'm s-!"

"You're gonna apologize now?", he spat back coldly. "Just like _always_? You REALLY think that all the hurt could go away with a stupid _'I'm sorry'?!_ "

He turned to face her, eyes narrowed and teeth baring. But even then, Mabel still saw a few tears in his own eyes.

"Cause that's all YOU think!", Dipper spat back. "OH no! Everything is sweet and glittery and rainbows and sunshine in the world as long as you say _SORRY_! You know what _your_ problem is Mabel!? You-! _You-!_ "

He clenched his fists so tightly, his palms almost began to bleed as he grinded his teeth with an internal battle of whether to say this or not. Mabel gave a small, horrified shake of her head, mentally pleading her brother wouldn't say it.

 _"YOU HAVE SUCH A HUGE HEART YOU WOULDN'T KNOW IF SOMEONE WAS TAKING ADVANTAGE OF YOU IF THEY FORCED YOU ONTO YOUR HANDS AND KNEES!"_ , he finally exploded. "You're accusing ME of having _trust issues_?! You so _blindl_ y and readily give your trust out to _any_ stranger you meet! If they're a boy or not! And you _ALWAYS_ give people a second chance, even after they've bitten and ripped off your hand! I wouldn't be-! No- _no!_ You know what? Yeah, I'm gonna say it!"

Mabel took a step back but Dipper took a couple of steps forward. He growled through gritted teeth down at his sister.

"I actually _WOULDN'T_ be surprised if _Gideon_ came back with some stupid claim to an epiphany and had you back under his thumb in _5 minutes!_ ", he hissed. " _You are THAT stupid and gullible!_ LOOK at what happened with Grunkle Stan! Suddenly you're gonna turn around and start being buddies with him again?! You're _SO willing_ to just open yourself out, you're practically _BEGGING_ to get yourself _hurt!_ And you've NO idea what I've done to keep you safe from that, Mabel! _WHY do you think I'm so paranoid?!_ You think I LIKE having a hard time sleeping?! Nope! Nothing ever goes wrong in _Mabel's world!_ Maybe I shouldn't have been protecting you all these years! Maybe I should just _let_ you get hurt for once!"

He stormed away. Mabel took a step after him, but the words caught in her throat. Instead she dropped down to her knees and began to cry. Everything in her shattered. And she felt like she couldn't argue his point.

Mabel came back to the present and sighed heavily, looking at the half-finished sweater. She carefully took it off her feet and sat it on her bed and then walked out of the room. She said a last good-bye to her brother and headed out.

Dipper watched until Mabel was out of sight. He sighed with relief and then walked away from the window. She was out of the house.

"Hey, Grunkle Stan?", he called out, walking through the living room.

Stanford came around the corner, cracking open another Pitt Cola.

"Yeah, squirt?", Ford said as he approached.

A few footsteps were heard and then Stanley came out from behind his brother, coming in from another end of the house.

"Someone say 'Stan'?", he asked when he arrived.

"Oh. Yeah, sorry. Grunkle.", Dipper clarified.

"Heh. Okay then.", Stanley chuckled. "Sorry, I couldn't really hear the 'uncle' part from where I was."

"It's cool.", Dipper nodded.

Ford turned his attention back to the child.

"What's up, slick?", he asked.

"Uh, didn't you mention one time that you had like, _ten_ guns around the house?", Dipper asked.

"The holy- what?", Stanley asked, astonished. "TEN? And you used to never let Fids hear the end of his safety precautions!"

" _Safety_ didn't need to include an entire room full of flashing symbols and walls that closed in on ya.", Stanford scoffed. "But yeah, I've got one just up there on the shelf."

He nodded to exactly where Dipper had his dream. Dipper looked over his shoulder at the place and could just barely make out the silvery gleam of the metal gun's handle.

"...Think we can hide them? Like.. REALLY well out of my reach?", Dipper asked, starting to feel more and more uneasy by the thought of Bipper reaching up and snatching it.

"Hmmm...", Ford soon started to nod along. "Yeeaah you're probably right about that kid.. In case of... _you know_."

"Yeah.", Dipper nodded.

Ford quickly walked over and took down the gun he had hidden.

"I'll just go ahead and..take care of this.", he hurried out of the room.

"Thank you.", Dipper nodded, feeling a bit more relieved as he now knew that Bill now had no easy access to weaponry.

Meanwhile, Pacifica was in her bedroom, looking over herself in the mirror. She struggled to imagine her hair an actual darker brown like it always naturally was when there was a knock on the her door. A servant came in and bowed lowly to her.

"Miss? There is a Mabel Pines here to see you.", he stated. "Shall I send this riffraff away?"

"Mabel?", Pacifica was totally caught off guard. She thought it over and then shrugged. "No.. Send her in."

Mabel was soon escorted in. She looked around and gaped in awe.

"Your bedroom is BEAUTIFUL..", she gasped.

"Yeah, I know.", Pacifica waved it off casually. "What's up? Did you guys find a way to get rid of that demon thing?"

"No. Actually I came by to check up on ya!", Mabel beamed happily at her friend.

Pacifica had been brushing her hair, but then stopped to glance at Mabel in her large mirror.

"Me? Why?", she asked.

"Well cause Dipper was being all paranoid again after what Bill did.", Mabel walked up to her. "He didn't know if you like, hated us or something."

"Psh. No. I don't _hate_ you guys..so far.", Pacifica shrugged. "I guess if anything, I hate that Bill guy."

"Okay, that's a relief.", Mabel couldn't help but pick up a perfume bottle and look over the pretty design on the glass. "Cause he's been giving Dipper a hard time lately with nightmares and stuff."

"Really?", Pacifica instinctively pushed down Mabel's hands and made sure the bottle was safely sat on the vanity again.

"Yeah, it's been awful..", Mabel sighed and picked up a tube of lipstick, looking it over too. "Wow, these are really pretty."

"So stop touching them.", Pacifica snapped a little, taking the tube away. "Sorry. We might be okay with each other, but I'm not comfortable with you touching all my stuff."

"Oh. Sorry.", Mabel smiled sheepishly.

"Whatever.", Pacifica rolled her eyes. "So, the demon's been giving Dipper nightmares. Is he okay?"

"Mm.. Well.. He's not that sleep deprived yet so.. I dunno.", Mabel shrugged a little.

She sighed again and looked down at the floor. Pacifica turned around and couldn't help but notice the sudden change of mood.

"..Hey, are you okay?", she asked.

"...I dunno..", Mabel sighed and folded her arms. "I guess I just feel like I'm not doing as good of a job as being a sister to him like he's been a brother to me.."

Mabel walked back and sat down on a chair a servant had conveniently placed for her. Pacifica came over and another servant placed another chair for her in time for Pacifica to sit down.

"How so?", she asked, a bit concerned.

"Well.. It's just.. He's practically given up his _whole_ life, with this deal and all, to make sure _I've been safe_. And here I am, miles away from him instead of looking out for him.", Mabel sighed and shrugged, her eyes kept to the floor. "I dunno.. I was remembering a fight we had a few days ago and.. I guess he was right.. I don't feel like I really do a lot for him."

"Mabel, are you kidding me?", Paz asked, almost shocked that she would think as such. "Dipper's always happy to have you around. That's _why_ he does so much for you."

"Well yeah, but then what do I do in return? Make him laugh? Is that even good enough?", she asked, looking back up at Pacifica now with worry. "It just seems like everything I do only makes things worse and harder for Dipper.."

"Like, _how?_ ", Pacifica scoffed.

"Like when we were on that monster hunt.", Mabel started with. "I KNEW Dipper was hurt, but I dragged us all out there anyway. And all that running must've really hurt him.. You saw him when Wendy and I were cleaning him up."

"Well.. Yeah..", Pacifica shrugged a little. "But like, he was having _fun_. And I'm pretty sure having to share his body with a demon isn't easy. Stop being so stupid."

"I'm not being stupid.", Mabel pouted. "There's a lot of times when I could've been there for him, and I wasn't. And... Well-! You've seen him! What did I just say? He gave up _everything_ just to keep me safe!"

"...Then you must mean _a lot_ to him.", Pacifica said gently. A little surprised herself at thinking of it under that light. "...Dipper really does give up a lot for you, doesn't he?"

"...I don't feel like I give him as much back.", Mabel nodded.

"Yeah, but Mabel. He like.. If he's willing to give up himself to keep you safe.. Then what you do for him, MUST mean like, a whole lot.", Paz pressed. "I mean, Dipper wouldn't even help me with the ghost until it meant that you and your friends could go to the party. Whatever you two do all the time, it obviously means a lot to him. A lot more than you think."

"...Really?", Mabel asked in a small hopeful voice.

Paz nodded.

"Yeah.. I think Dipper kinda needs you."

"..Thanks Pacifica.", Mabel smiled a little more.

"...Okay so did that like..help you feel better or..whatever? Cause, I don't do that mushy junk.", Pacifica sat back and folded her arms across her chest.

Mabel giggled a little.

"Yeah, I think it did help.. Thanks.", Mabel nodded.

"Whatever. I'm only trying cause I'm trying to be nice.", she scoffed.

The two sat in silence for a moment, letting things sink in. A servant naturally brought over a couple of Pitt colas and sat it down on a table in front of them. Pacifica just reached out and took one like it's been sitting there a while and Mabel began to wonder where the table came from.

"...So...", Pacifica finally broke the silence. "You said Dipper wanted to make sure I was okay?"

"Yeah.", Mabel nodded and then took a soda too. "Nice to see you don't like, hate at him or whatever."

"Are you kidding me?", Pacifica scoffed. "I just hate this stupid deal."

"Everyone does. I think Dipper does most of all.", Mabel rolled her eyes.

Pacifica thought it over a bit. The idea of Dipper worried about whether or not she hated him somehow seemed like a different perspective.

For a lot of her life, Pacifica was either one of two things. Loved or hated and typically the haters were all jealous cause they actually loved her a lot. And in return she typically just didn't care about anyone that didn't kneel down to her.

But Dipper didn't like her because she didn't care. And now he does kind of care about what she thinks of him. With what she was just saying, how Dipper's kinda picky about who he cares for, it was a different kind of praise than what the blonde princess was so used to. She'd almost call it touching.

A small smile tugged at her lips at the thought of Dipper caring about her and it made her heart flutter a little. Just like when she hugged him during the ghost hunt. It still felt weird for her and almost made it hard for her to swallow her soda. But it had been happening a bit more and more since that haunting and she's almost gotten used to it. She almost..liked it.

"..OKAY! I can't _NOT_ ask this.", Mabel finally cut through her train of thought.

Pacifica looked up, caught off guard.

"Huh?", she asked, trying to catch up.

Mabel had a large, excited grin on her face as she had been watching Pacifica. Noticing her smile and her blushing, it wouldn't leave Mabel's mind.

"Okay. Don't hate me. But I've gotta ask..", Mabel looked like she was about to burst from excitement. "...do you...have a crush on my _brother?_ "

" ** _WHAT?!_** _Ew!_ NO!", Pacifica cringed away.

Her eyes were wide and suddenly a bright red blush made its way across her face. Mabel couldn't help but giggle at the reaction.

"I mean, I guess like, not _EW?_ ", Pacifica quickly tried to recover herself. "But like, _oh my gosh!_ Mabel, he's okay like, as a _person_ , but he's.. Ha! He's definitely _NOT boyfriend material._ NO. I don't have anything for your brother!"

Mabel had a grin on her face that showed her disbelief.

"Mm... Then what _do_ you think of him?", she asked.

Pacifica hesitated, glancing to the side before scoffing and setting down her soda.

"Tch. What is there to think of a _mess_ like THAT?", she stood up and began walking away, her blush disappearing. "No, you want an honest answer? I think he's _filthy_ and can stink up the whole mansion if he stayed for a day."

Pacifica wandered around the room, seemingly as if lost in thought. She closed the blinds to the windows.

"And he's so _rude_! Did you HEAR him the way he back-talked my father? Or your _grunkle?_ Honestly that's just awful."

Mabel watched her as Pacifica closed the doors to other rooms as well.

"And he's very loud and obnoxious. His voice cracks like, _ALL the time._ It's constantly squeaking. Especially when he's screaming. It's almost worse than you."

Pacifica waved her hand and in an instant the servants that were around to cater to her gathered up into an assemblage in front of her.

"And his hair's a _constant mess._ There's no way anyone can work with that!", she continued to rant. "I couldn't possibly imagine what it'd be like if he actually tried to brush it out, and it has SO much volume to it. It must be a nightmare in the morning."

Mabel stifled a bit of a laugh as she noticed Pacifica blushing again. It REALLY didn't sound to Mabel like she hated these things about him, no matter how snobby she sounded. Pacifica had obviously paid enough attention to her brother to notice these smaller details.

The rich girl escorted the servants out of through their quarters and closed the door behind them. Pacifica waited a moment, sighing a little bit as if just thinking about Dipper vexed her.

"Honestly, he's just a very rude, lowly, means of the riffraff. I've only come by to TRY to be a bit more friendly so as to help my image look better. You know. Go for the 'cares about the lesser people' appeal to the public.", she stiffened a little and came back over. "But it's hard to go for it when he's so out-spoken."

Pacifica moved her chair over closer to Mabel's and then sat down, taking a quick look around to make sure everything was closed up.

"... _But_...", her voice dropped to almost a whisper as a real look of worry began to show through on her face. She looked back at Mabel and the blush grew some more. "...I think that's kind of what I really.. _REALLY like_ about him."

Mabel's eyes widened and her smile grew as she gasped.

"You mean-!?"

"SHH!", Pacifica quickly slapped a hand over her mouth.

Mabel bit back the urge to scream, though it was hard to do so.

" ** _NO_** one can know. Okay? No. Mabel. You don't get it.", Pacifica suddenly looked really scared and her face flushed into a white. "It's not just _'oh you're just trying to look good'_ , okay? I mean, reputation and images REALLY matter a lot with my family and class. If _anyone_ knew I had a _CRUSH on Dipper?_ I'd be ruined! My parents would probably _disown_ me!"

Mabel's excitement slowly began to die away as the thought settled in.

"What? But..", she shook her head a little, finding it hard to believe.

"No, I'm serious.", Pacifica sighed a little. "I mean.. Really.. Dipper is all that I was talking about.. But I kind of _like it_.. I like it how he speaks his mind and doesn't care what everyone else says. And his voice cracking is kinda... _cute_..actually... And he's not afraid to get messy. He just shrugs it all off and gets the job done."

Pacifica smiled a little bit, thinking back to these things again. Mabel looked at her curiously. Her brother? It was weird to think of this matching up to Dipper of all people, and weirder still to hear it coming from Pacifica Northwest.

"Actually.. I think if anything, Dipper's actually really brave..", Pacifica admitted quietly, her cheeks turned pink again and her heart fluttered a little.

Mabel covered her mouth and tried hard not to laugh.

"What?", Pacifica snapped a little.

"I'm sorry.. Are we talking about _my brother?_ The same Dipper?", Mabel asked.

"Yeah. What, you don't see it?", Pacifica huffed some.

"No no! I'm sorry.. It's just.. That's so _weird!_ Cause I never really saw Dipper as being 'brave' but... Well.. Actually I guess now that you mention it, he is..", Mabel's laughter died inside as she considered the things Dipper has done over the Summer. "..Yeah.. I guess he is."

"Yeah. He _is._ ", Pacifica stated bluntly. "And... And actually it makes me wanna be like that.. I'm actually terrified of my parents, or accidentally making a mistake and having everyone not like me anymore. But when we were on that ghost hunt.. I don't know... I felt like I could be..different. Like I could show who I really was to him. And he made me _wanna_ be more brave. Like how I stood up to my father and opened the gates. I wanted to be strong like he was. Strong in myself... In what I really think and like."

Mabel's eyes were wide and shimmering in excitement. It was overwhelming and crazy to hear it all come from the very same girl that just a week ago, Dipper would have nothing to do with. But for the girl that always loved a good romance, it was beautiful in Mabel's eyes.

"Really? Dipper makes you feel like _that?_ ", Mabel asked.

Pacifica hesitated, took another glance around the room, and then smiled a bit and nodded.

"...That's why I stopped by your house the other day...and didn't mind waiting for my clothes to finish.", she said quietly. "...I..I think I kinda do have a crush on Dipper. ...Is that bad?"

"Oh my gosh! No!", Mabel suddenly bursted with enthusiasm. "No! You've gotta tell him!"

" ** _OH! MY GOSH!_** Mabel, _shut up!_ ", Pacifica instantly retreated though Mabel began to laugh. "No! Nuh-uh! No! I'm _not_ telling him! _I didn't even wanna tell you, you freak!_ "

"NOO! You gotta tell hiiiimm!", Mabel bounced in her seat, unable to contain herself any more.

She took to shaking Pacifica by the arm.

"You have to tell him!"

"Get _off_ of me!", she shoved Mabel's hands off. "NO! I'm not saying anything!"

"Yeah but-!"

"No! Mabel! It's not gonna work!", Pacifica interrupted firmly. "I'm high class and he's low class! It wouldn't work out! No matter _what_ angle you look at it from, me and Dipper could never be a thing and..I don't even know if I _want_ it to be a thing!"

" _OH MY GOSH! PACIFICA!_ ", Mabel groaned and threw herself into the back of the chair and slid down some. "You sound JUST like him! Stop that! It could still totally work out!"

"Uh-huh. Yeah sure. _Keep dreaming!_ ", Pacifica rolled her eyes. "How could it possible work out? HOW? My parents practically _hate your **whole** family!_ "

"Yeah but you two would be so CUUUUTE! It's a perfect match!", Mabel insisted in an almost whiny voice.

" _No, it's not._ ", Pacifica turned away. "I don't think he'd even like me back. What good would it be if I told him?"

"Cause he could like you back!", Mabel sat up, shocked by the disheartened tone in Pacifica's voice. "And even if he doesn't- Pacifica you should tell him, even if he does like you or not. It's much better than just always wondering _'what if'_! It'd be much better than every time you see him you keep wondering what he really thinks or if he's trying to drop a hint to you! At least it'd be out there and you'd both be totally honest with each other!"

"Yeah but you're forgetting one thing.", Pacifica frowned.

"What?"

"...What if he _does_ like me?", she asked in a small voice. "..I just.. I don't really see how this would work out... And.. I don't even know if I _wanna_ have this crush on him.."

"...Pacifica.", Mabel began gently. "Believe me.. It's a great thing that you have a crush on him. He's not just some faceless person in the crowd to you. And if he likes you back.. I'm sure _something_ will be worked out."

Pacifica smiled a little bit.

"You like..really think so?", she asked.

"Totally! You should totally tell him.", Mabel nodded. "Especially cause..well.. Dipper's been really paranoid and stressed out with Bill hanging around now. But he's one of those guys that _never_ had a girl crush on _him_ before. It was always the other way around. Telling him you like him would be like, huge. I think he'd really like to know. It might make this whole thing a bit easier for him."

"...Maybe I should..", Pacifica nodded, thinking it over in her head.

"You totally should. It'd blow his mind!", Mabel beamed again.

Pacifica thought about it, and tried to imagine how Dipper would react. Or what he even thought of her now. All of a sudden the idea of Dipper rejecting her feelings made Pacifica worry and feel like her heart would shatter if it came to that. But Mabel's encouragement definitely made her wanna say it anyway. If for no other reason, to be stronger than what she felt.

"...Hey Mabel? You don't need like...a ride or something back to the Mystery Shack do you?", Pacifica asked, trying to make it sound more nonchalant than it really was.

Mabel beamed happily at her, the answer already clear.

* * *

 _ *****Wanna catch your breath? You good? Okay, keep reading! =D*****_

* * *

Back at the shack, Stanley was sitting at the table in the living room, reading a newspaper and drinking coffee when he started to hear Dipper mumble.

The author looked up from his paper to find the young boy pacing back and forth the length of the living room.

"..but it's only been... But it is..", Dipper mumbled to himself, glancing at the clock every now and again.

He was gnawing on the chewed-up end of a pen while twirling another one in his fingers. Once in a while he'd brush back his hair or take out the pen in his mouth with two fingers like it was a cigarette, sigh, and then stick it back in. His eyes danced back and forth in reflection to his thoughts. Sometimes his hands and fingers followed suit, drumming the air or pointing between this unknown thought and that. Every time Dipper turned and walked the next length, he looked like a tiger that wasn't appreciating his cage. Hunched forward, face lowered to the floor, a slightly quick step.

Stanley smiled, watching him, and then chuckled to himself. Watching Dipper a little further he couldn't help but giggle.

"What's so funny, nerd?", Ford asked, glancing over at his brother from his own mug.

"Who does that remind you of?", Lee asked in return, nodding at Dipper.

Ford watched a little while and then smirked some.

"I see your point.", he chuckled a little.

Dipper took out the pen and heaved another sigh.

"It shouldn't be taking _this_ long..", he muttered under his breath, scowling up at the clock.

"What's got you freaked out this time, Dipper?", Ford asked.

"I asked Mabel to go check up on Pacifica and it's been almost an hour.", Dipper sighed.

"Pacifica? Why?", Lee asked.

"Well mainly to get her out of the house until the guns were put away. But also cause the other day Bill was threatening Pacifica cause she's not part of the contract and I dunno really, but I guess for some reason, I just wanna know she's still okay?", Dipper shrugged and then turned and sat down at the table with them. "Cause I think we were just starting to get used to being friends with her?"

"Well fill me in a little. Did you kids not like her before?", Stanley shrugged. "You all seemed like pretty good friends when she was here."

"Nah, I thought you kids hated Pacifica. Wasn't she the same brat that challenged Mabel at mini golf?", Ford tried to piece it out.

"Well yeah, but then she asked for help with this ghost haunting her house and I dunno. It's like I got to see a different side to her. She seemed more...real.", Dipper shrugged.

Ford and Lee exchanged looks. It was the same, knowing, _"You see how hard he's falling?"_ kinda look. Dipper smiled a little to himself, thinking a bit more about the monster hunt at her house and how exciting it was when they finally caught the ghost. It almost flew over his head until he finally looked up and saw the same accusing expression the twins were now giving him. Suddenly Dipper felt very put on the spot.

"What?", he asked, a little more than disturbed by the brother-brother gang-up on him.

"...You know, I can't _NOT_ ask this.", Stanford shook his head and rolled his eyes with a smile. "When did you start getting a crush on Pacifica Northwest?"

 _"What?!"_ , Dipper's voice cracked badly at the question making both Stan Twins burst with laughter. "I don't have a crush on her!"

"Dipper, no offense but..", Lee tried to calm down.

"..it's REALLY obvious!", Ford finished up, laughing some more.

"I don't have a crush on Pacifica!", Dipper tried to insist, his face quickly flushing a brilliant shade of cherry red. "ME? _Date Pacifica?!_ **_Ew!_** Well, okay, maybe not _EW_ , exactly? I mean, she's actually not that bad as a person but like, as a friend! I- Heh, believe me guys! In my opinion, Pacifica is _NOT_ girlfriend material!"

"Uh-huh. Sure. Why not?", Stanley asked, suddenly putting on a more disbelieving and sarcastic attitude as he approached the subject. "No, I'm curious. Please. Enlighten me, Dipper Pines. What makes a girl like Pacifica NOT girlfriend material to you?"

"Cause...!", Dipper started but then stopped as he suddenly began to run dry of things to say against her.

It was suddenly very weird to Dipper. He wanted to say she was a snob and she always picked on him, but he knew it was just the facade she puts on as part of her rich-girl act. He knew that he's seen her differently than what everyone else has and it was all just because of what her parents expected out of her.

"W-Well..", he stammered, a little lost. "Well cause she's... _Pacifica!_ "

It was like he was trying to judge between two totally different people. On one hand, it was Pacifica Northwest, the brat of the town and stereotype-extraordinaire. On the other hand, it was Pacifica, the same girl who actually stood up to save him and Mabel from Lilliputtians, lumberjack ghosts, and angry fairies.

"That's not a really good argument, Dip.", Ford commented, bringing him back to the present. A smirk was left on his face. "From what I'm seeing, this is worse than with Wendy."

"It's not like with Wendy!", Dipper became flustered again. "That's _totally_ different! Wendy can kick butt and she's so cool! I've actually hung out with Wendy! I never hung out with Pacifica without some monster trying to kill us!"

"I didn't see a monster come breaking into the house and break you kids up while you were playing games and eating pop-tarts.", Lee pointed out.

"Okay, so we played pokemon. Big deal!", Dipper rolled his eyes as if his family was crazy. "That doesn't mean I have a crush on her!"

"Well what DO you like in a girl? I doubt even Mabel knows!", Ford scoffed.

"Well geez! I dunno! a girl who's smart!", Dipper began to list.

He thought back to how he and Pacifica talked and figured out the fairy rings.

"S-She uh..", Dipper frowned a little. "I like a girl who can handle herself!"

Pacifica pushed Bill away from emotionally hurting Mabel and kicked him for trying to choke her.

Dipper paused. He tried to think of something else.

"..I.. Well I like girls who.. Umm..."

Suddenly whatever came to mind, it looked like Pacifica could've filled it out easily. Even being pretty, that's what she seemed bred to be. Even for a blonde. Dipper frowned a little and shook his head slightly. It was so wrong! He shouldn't be liking Pacifica Northwest!

"Don't listen to Ford. The man couldn't hold onto a girl to save his life.", Lee scoffed, making his brother scowl darkly at him. "I'll ask you plain and simple and it's a given factor of whether or not you like her."

Dipper looked back, hoping it would be something he could answer with a definite NO.

"Were you laying awake last night, thinking about her?"

"Yeah I-", Dipper began to instinctively answer before the real question hit his mind. "WAIT! _NO!_ "

Ford and Lee both started laughing again as the boy's eyes shot open wide with shock and his face flushed red again.

" _No it's not like that!_ I wasn't thinking of her like _that_! I was wondering if she hated us or something!", Dipper tried desperately to explain.

"Nope! That answered it, fair and square!", Stanford laughed.

"Wow, Dipper, you've got it BAD for her!", Stanley wiped a tear from his eye. "What happened on that fairy hunt? She kissed you or something?"

" _NO!_ She kicked me hard and I had to deal with the after-pain!", Dipper felt a mix of fluster and frustration. "I-! She-! AUGH! Forget it!"

Dipper stormed off while his family was dieing of laughter. He went to the backyard and paced back and forth the length of the yard, quickly picking up his old habits again. He dug out his thinking-pen from his vest's inside-pocket and began chewing on it.

 _'Okay, Dipper. Try to think about this, RATIONALLY.'_ , he told himself, taking a moment to breath deeply. _'Who are we talking about?'_

 _'Pacifica Elise Northwest.'_ , he answered himself.

 _'Yeah. Now granted, I wasn't thinking about her like I was thinking about Wendy.'_ , Dipper pressed on.

 _'No, of course not.'_ , Dipper agreed whole-heartedly. _'See when I had a crush on Wendy, I was wondering what it'd be like if we held hands o-or if she hugged me or something. It's totally different!'_

 _'Yeah, of course!'_ , Dipper scoffed a little to himself, rolling his eyes with a smile. _'See with Pacifica, I was just wondering if Bill was messing around with her dreams or anything. I mean, after all, she's up for grabs in our contract. He could easily hurt her like he's been with me. See? I'm doing it again. It's more directed at Bill than Pacifica if anything.'_

 _'Yeah!'_ , Dipper started to feel relieved, knowing he was proving to himself to be right and his uncle and grandfather to be silly and wrong. _'See? And all I concluded to last night was that I was worried if she was hating me.'_

Suddenly the argument came to mind, _'Okay but why would I care if she hates me?'_

Dipper stopped his pacing and looked up at the trees, more or less, blankly.

 _'Cause I kinda care about her opinion of me.'_ , he argued with himself before he had a chance to really try to think out a more calculated answer.

 _'But why would I care what she thinks about me?'_

 _'Cause...'_

 _'Cause she's done nothing but picked on me and Mabel.'_ , Dipper pressed on in his mind, now frowning a little.

His mind ran faster than his own logical thoughts could process and it was kind of weird to the boy how quickly this seemed to be a determined definite in his mind. But he didn't really try to back up or anything to hash it out. He just ran, assuming that the first answer was what he really thought. He lowered his gaze to the dirt.

 _'So why should I care what she thinks of me? Or Mabel?'_

 _'Cause she isn't always like that. That was a facade that she had to put on to make herself look good in public.'_ , Dipper argued. _'When you actually got her alone, you got to see a real her. And she seemed so completely different.'_

Dipper slowly began walking again and he chewed on his pen a bit more.

 _'So then what's the real problem with this?'_ , he asked himself.

 _'I'm still partially stuck on the outward face Pacifica puts on and not really thinking fully about what she'd be like on a one-on-one basis.'_ , he answered swiftly and logically. _'The REAL Pacifica is very different from the act she puts on for her parents.'_

 _'Actually, now thinking about her parents, it's kinda sad she has to be kept under thumb like that..'_ , Dipper frowned a bit more, looking back up at the sky. _'So... Getting to actually know her better.. I think I feel kinda bad for the way Pacifica has to live... I think if anything.. I have fun with her when she hangs out with us.'_

 _'Okay, is that really a bad thing?'_

 _'I guess not. I'm getting along with people I thought I couldn't get along with. Flexibility and diversity is always a good thing.'_ , Dipper shrugged. _'Social skills.'_

 _'Dipper stop being so robotic about this! It's not about social skills!'_ , he suddenly scolded himself, making himself cringe a little. _'The whole point of this discussion is to figure out whether or not Pacifica, the **real** Pacifica- we can drop the fake act cause if we were actually dating **Pacifica** , we'd be looking at **PACIFICA** not _ "Pacifica" _\- We're trying to determine if **Pacifica** is actually someone plausible to wanna date.'_

 _'Well of course not!'_

 _'Well WHY not?!'_

 _'Cause-! She's-!'_

Dipper's mind suddenly raced back to when Pacifica picked herself up from the mud and fought back against the fairies. How she stood up for Mabel in front of Bill and kept her cool around the demon. He remembered how scared she looked when they were on the ghost-hunt and how much it must've meant to her that Dipper was being encouraging of her doing the right thing instead of being like her parents. How hurt she looked when Dipper yelled at her for lying. How quickly she took to just standing up for herself instead of relying on Mabel to do all the work when fighting the Lilliputtians. How funny it was to hear her cry out in agony about her great grandfather being a fake.

He remembered hearing her laugh and how it sounded different when they were ruining a carpet than when she's being annoying and sarcastic against his sister. How while they were ruining the carpet, she still seemed kinda shy and scared.

Suddenly thinking more and more about Pacifica when she was being honest with herself and was actually this meek and more shy girl.

Dipper suddenly felt uneasy.

 _'But I don't like girls who are too shy to speak their minds. I like girls that can handle themselves.'_ , he argued weakly in his mind. _'Like.. Like Wendy! ...right?'_

 _'No.'_

The word echoed in his mind. Firm in its own right. And tried as Dipper might, he couldn't really bring himself to argue with it. He almost felt desperate. He didn't know if he wanted to crush on Pacifica.

 _'...But.. But she's high class! How could that work out? How? She's so rich. It'd look horrible for her to be dating a "riffraff" like me.'_

 _'That's never really stopped it from ever happening before. It seems to happen quite a lot in Mabel's romance stories and on tv and you see magazines constantly talking about it in supermarkets.'_

 _'But who's to say she likes me back? No. You know, Dipper. You just gotta make this as blunt as possible. Okay? Alright.'_

 _'Would you ever like to spend a lot of time with her and really get to know the real Pacifica Northwest?'_

 _'Y_ n _e_ o _s.'_

Dipper stopped in his tracks again and frowned. Yes and no rung out at the exact same time in his mind. And for a long time, it seemed like that was all that could come to mind. Everything else just stopped. He tried to start something else in his mind, but just ended up rubbing his temples and groaning. It was rare when absolutely NOTHING can come to his mind.

 _'W-would I wanna date her?'_ , he tried to ask again.

He was met with the same dumbfound silence for an answer and it started to get on his nerves.

 _'...I-I- Who cares!? It's probably not gonna happen.'_ , he tried to shrug it off. _'N-no one ever said she even liked me back!'_

Dipper sighed and sat back on a tree stump. His mind was a mess and his guts were knotted up, making it feel like something was crawling all over his rib cage. Dipper wasn't sure if he was blushing bright red or if he flushed pale white at the thought.

"...Things were a lot easier when I had Tyrone to play Devil's-Advocate with me.", Dipper groaned and rubbed his forehead.

 _'...wait whatever happened to clones Three and Four?'_ , his mind suddenly wondered. _'They weren't around when Tyrone and I had the clone fight.. Did Robbie ever catch him? But..then wouldn't he have said something? But then the Blind Eye Society would've... It's rained since then..unless they found shelter..unless they forgot like Tyrone and I did. Maybe...huh..'_

Dipper was so lost in thought, he almost didn't hear the car door on the other side of the house But he did hear Mabel's voice coming from inside after a few minutes.

"Heeey Dipper! There's someone here to see ya!"

Dipper momentarily forgot about his worries over Pacifica and quickly looked up at the back door as his mind switched back to his original worry: Mabel's safety.

"Hey Mabel!", Dipper called out as Mabel came out the back door and he stood up. "Good thing you're back. I was starting to wo-"

He stopped in mid-step seeing Pacifica walk out with her and was suddenly very confused.

"...Wha?", he blinked a little. "Pacifica? What're you doing here?"

Mabel and Pacifica came the rest of the way across the yard while his mind racing again with questions and possibilities. What was she doing here? Why is she still wearing the llama sweater? Did she really like it that much? Is she..scared? Or is that nervous? It was hard to tell.

"Like I said, Bro-bro, she wanted to come see ya!", Mabel was grinning widely.

Dipper looked at his sister and then immediately felt really nervous. She had that wide devious grin like she always did whenever someone's romantic life was in mind or she was excited about something mischievous.

"...Why?", Dipper asked, looking back at Pacifica's nervous face.

"..Well like..", Pacifica frowned and then scoffed and rolled her eyes, accidentally bouncing back into that selfish attitude again. "You know, what? I don't-!"

"Okay so I'm just gonna go ahead and leave you two be! Bye!", Mabel suddenly cut in backing away to the Shack, talking as fast as possible so no one could interrupt her.

Dipper, in the split-second times of things, was already wanting to ask Mabel why Pacifica was brought here since it was apparent to the boy that Bill didn't like her at all. With Mabel suddenly disappearing inside the house, Dipper's panic soared even more so. Pacifica was only a few feet away from him and it wouldn't be hard for the demon to just reach out right now and try any number of attempts to kill the blonde with Mabel out of ear-shot.

Dipper kept glancing around nervously, trying to spy Bill before he had a chance to creep up on them. Pacifica, however, kept her eyes glued to the ground. She was already starting to get cold feet in the car on the way here. Now with Mabel suddenly leaving the two of them alone, it felt almost impossible to say anything.

Only once did the two of them happen to catch each other's eye and it made Dipper realize just how freaked out Pacifica was. The worry of Bill's threat started to clear from his own mind.

 _'Wait, is Pacifica actually scared?'_ , he suddenly noted, seeing how quickly Paz looked away from him.

He glanced around again and checked over his shoulder, but then looked back. Yeah, she was really that scared. Bill started to become less and less of a worry as Pacifica continued shuffling and wringing her hands, trying really hard to scramble some means of telling him in her own mind.

"...uh...", Dipper finally began, just focusing on her for once. "Hey.. Paz, are you okay?"

Pacifica looked back at him and then groaned a little.

"I... I-I uh..", she stammered.

Dipper blinked. This was an entirely new perspective on Pacifica's behavior. He almost couldn't really tell if she was blushing or if it was just in his own mind.

"...What?", he asked, absolutely clueless as to what she was thinking.

"Mmm..", she tapped her foot quickly and looked back at the ground. "M-Mabel wanted me to um.. T-to tell you something.."

The more he watched, the more he became concerned. She really looked scared and he had no idea why. For a moment Dipper was almost scared she had made a deal with Bill behind his back.

"Well what? Say it.", Dipper pressed, hoping that the possibility of Bill going to her wasn't true.

"I-! _I can't just say it!_ ", Pacifica snapped, now bright red in the face.

"How hard could it be?", Dipper asked, becoming more and more worried that his guess was actually true. "Just...say it!"

Pacifica felt her guts knot up so tightly in her stomach and her heart was racing. It felt like she was trying to hold her breath as long as possible, but she finally just couldn't hold it back.

 _"I THINK I HAVE A CRUSH ON YOU!"_ , she finally spouted out.

It's like the whole world suddenly disappeared in one fell swoop and Dipper's eyes widened. He almost heard something shatter in the back of his mind. But it wasn't really a bad thing so much as it was like, a moment of new-found clarity or perspective. All of a sudden, the world seemed to fall away into pure nothing and left just the two of them here as the words echoed in his mind.

Stanley was walking by when he noticed Mabel standing on her tip-toes, staring out the window.

"Whatcha looking at Mabel?", Stanley asked, taking a glance out himself.

He saw Dipper and Pacifica talking, both of their faces were blushing furiously. It took little to no time at all for Lee to guess what was going on and he snickered and put his hand in front of Mabel's face.

"Oh come on, you stalker sister!", he teased, pushing her away.

"Hey! _Aw!_ I wanna see them admit love!", Mabel whined.

"Nope.", Stanley picked up the small child and hefted her over his shoulder. "Give your brother some room. Poor boy's only 12."

Dipper was left dumbstruck as the news sunk in.

"ME?", was the first thing his cracked voice managed to choke out, but even he had a hard time hearing himself.

"... _YES_!", Pacifica scoffed, not sure if she was pissed off that he wasn't believing her or if she was really just that nervous. "Hello! Yeah! Not the invisible man behind you!"

Dipper quickly looked behind him in a split-second reaction and fear that she was meaning Bill Cipher was right behind him. But when he looked back he was shocked to find she had started walking, specifically towards him, effectively shoving the illuminacho out of his mind.

"Look, there I said it okay?! I think I have a crush on you, you STUPID blind _jerk_!", Pacifica suddenly started talking faster than Dipper ever knew possible for any human being to be capable of. "I know it's crazy, I'm not even sure if I wanna have a crush on you! But the ghost hunting and you were acting all cool with that journal and then I hugged you and you were just like, so cool and stuff and you actually made me feel like a real person and I've like never had that before and it was amazing and it's fun!"

She kept walking and Dipper, lost to everything she was currently saying, was just still stuck on the fact that this girl has a crush on him. Which had never happened before in all his life. But he instinctively stepped back in time with her, keeping pace.

 _'Wait a minute, she has a crush on me?'_ , Dipper wondered in his mind, his eyes never leaving hers. _'Wait, shoot! Now I HAVE to figure out what I think of her! I mean.. It's_ Pacifica _, but.. No. You know what? Why am I even making that comparison? When she's a snob and when she's real. It's like apples and oranges!'_

"And that's why I wanted to come back and give you those stupid clothes you left at the mansion. Like _what the heck_ , you just leave your clothes _everywhere_?!", Pacifica ranted on, her mouth struggling to keep up with her mind. "But like every time I'm hanging out with you, I feel like I don't have to be like everything my parents are constantly wanting me to be, I'm actually capable of thinking for myself and you make me wanna stand up for myself cause that was like, amazing and intense and you actually believed in me that I didn't have to be like every other Northwest in the history of like, forever!"

 _'I need to stop even just referring to her as "_ Pacifica _" cause every time I think of the name "_ Pacifica _", I keep thinking of how bratty and snobby she was! Just-! HER. THIS. This girl that suddenly has a crush on me and... Do I really like her back? Do I WANNA like her back?'_ , Dipper was scrambling to find an answer but it was hard to think and listen to her at the same time.

"I didn't even really realize I had a crush on you until we had those stupid horrible tasting pop-tarts the other day, you stupid jerk! It was-! _You-!_ It was SO hard for you to just get up and go _around_ me but not difficult at all to push all up against me and make my heart flutter and blush so badly and then I realized I really did have this huge crush on you but I don't even know if _I WANNA crush on you..._ ", Dipper suddenly felt something hit him from behind and snapped out of his thoughts long enough to look behind and see he was being backed up to a tree on the far side of the yard. He looked back and began to blush even more brightly as Pacifica only stepped closer until she was inches away from him, accidentally pinning him to this tree and still keeping up with her long-winded explanation. "..cause I don't even know if a relationship like ours would go anywhere what with my parents like, constantly hating you cause you're so filthy and all, but I don't even know if I wanna have this crush on you unless I now you like me back, so I need an answer like, _NOW!_ "

Finally silence settled as Pacifica panted a little, having said most of everything in one breath. Dipper looked back at her and it took him a moment to realize she was waiting for him to give an answer. Was he going to return or reject these feelings?

Again. No thoughts came to mind. He couldn't think. He glanced elsewhere, trying to cobble something together in his thoughts.

"...Ah.. uh... I-I..", he stammered quietly.

Both were bright red in the face for different reasons. Dipper scratched his head a little, trying find some answer but it was like everything had just frozen in place.

 _'Do I like her?'_ , Dipper's mental voice echoed lonely in his mind. _'...WELL! Do I LIKE HER?!_ Can _I like her? Is there anyway on earth I could possibly find myself falling in love with..._ HER? _'_

Finally he noticed Pacifica started to look down at the ground, a little disappointed looking as a sigh escaped her. She started to feel embarrassed for saying anything at all. And it was that look of insecurity, that understanding that she didn't really know everything and was actually kind of scared of what he could say next, that his own opinion weighed that heavily on her. It was the same look, the same air of demeanor and her true show of personality that he had liked seeing in the Northwest Mansion. It was the real Pacifica. Not the On-top-of-the-World-Princess. But rather instead still very capable of feeling and thinking and maybe more dependable than she realized.

All other worries and strife that Dipper was previous feeling, trying to sort this all out in his head or worried that Bill would come around and ruin anything, it was all gone in a second when he really stopped to notice her. Instead the only real worry he had was that she looked disappointed, like she was already taking his silence as a "no".

"I-! Umm...", Dipper struggled to speak up, just as she was about to move away.

Paz looked up quickly, snapping her attention back to his voice, and again a little hopeful that maybe he did have a different answer than she thought.

"I-I uh...", Dipper couldn't find his voice as the two locked eyes.

Dipper could feel his heart beating fast and furious in his chest. The answer seemed pretty obvious, but it was still, just somehow, hard to really believe. Could he actually be falling in love with her?

He hadn't even noticed he was leaning closer to Pacifica. All thoughts were gone.

But Pacifica had been watching so intently, waiting so hopefully for his answer. She drew in a breath, realizing what was happening, and it made her heart flutter at the thought, but she didn't pull away. Instead she found herself slowly, very slowly, leaning in as well. Her heart began to pound in both panic and bliss as they came closer and closer.

Dipper's eyes slipped close and he then found his lips pressing against hers. However it happened...it did. _They were kissing._ It was a shy, tentative kiss in which both seemed almost too afraid for their lips to fully touch. But the moment they did, both felt waves of bliss and pleasure run through them, like an electrical shock that was pulsing through them. Their hearts raced at the excitement from such a feeling.

Slowly, they grew more into it, kissing again. Still so sweet and innocently shy and a little scared as they began to piece it out. The blissful feeling never seemed to stop and it seemed to take away their breath while they continued. All time slowed to a complete halt for this one moment.

What was heart-racing and fearful, seemed to slow down into a steady, hard, thump in their chests. Dipper instinctively wrapped his arms around Pacifica's waist to pull her closer and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

Finally they had to part. Both were too out of breath to keep going and had to pant a little to catch their breath. Hesitantly, they opened their eyes and saw each other in a whole new perspective. One so full of love and passion.

Slowly, Dipper found himself smiling, and then chuckling. And he chuckled to find Pacifica had done the same. Their nervous chuckles soon turned to giggles, awkward, shy, and happy for what had happened, something of a relief of all the tension they had both felt up to that point, despite how breathless they still seemed.

"Heh.. Wow..", Dipper breathed.

"Y-Yeah..", Pacifica smiled a bit more. "Th..that..."

"...Yeah..", Dipper chuckled a little, glancing at the ground before looking back into her eyes.

The two smiled at each other. So happily in young love and blissfully unaware of the world around them. They leaned forward to touch foreheads to each other, not sure yet if they had breath to kiss again. Dipper reached up with a hand and brushed back some of her hair from her cheek, pausing to feel the warm glow of her red blush and knowing it was the same as his own. She chuckled a little and leaned into his hand, just happy with everything.

And what was a moment of what felt like an absolute dream.. Heavenly, soft, warm-lighted, and beautifully romantic, slowly disappeared in Dipper's mind.

Reality settled back in with a terrifyingly cold chill like a bucket of ice cold water had been dumped on the poor boy. And this dream slowly began to disappear into a nightmare as he took the sight in. His hand, resting so gently on her face, was only inches away from her neck.

Pacifica's smile soon disappeared as she watched Dipper's happy love-filled expression change into a look of absolute horror. The blush disappeared entirely from his face leaving nothing but pale white.

"What?", she asked quietly, a little concerned.

Dipper suddenly snapped his hand away like it had been burned and Pacifica had to blink a few times to really acknowledge what had happened. Like all of a sudden, reality came crashing into her life and she had no idea why.

" _What?_ ", Pacifica repeated, quickly growing more worried.

"N-no.."

Dipper tried to back up, but was quickly reminded of the tree he had been pressed up to before. He nearly tripped, but managed to find a way of slipping around the trunk and backing away as quickly as possible.

"Dipper?", Pacifica sounded heartbroken as he backed away. "What is it?"

Suddenly it dawned on her as Dipper pulled his hands close to himself, looking more like a whipped animal than anything.

"..Wait, you're not thinking of-", she started to say.

"Uh- Yeah I am!", Dipper quickly interrupted, a sudden mixed feeling of both terrified and hurt settled into his stomach. "How can I not be thinking of Bill? I could've-! _Oh my gosh!_ Pacifica, I could've _killed_ you right now!"

"Dipper, I don't care what Bill would try to do!", Pacifica started following after him. "We were just-! I-I thought-! I don't care what Bill would do to me! I don't wanna leave you!"

Tears started up in her eyes and it broke Dipper's heart to watch, but he kept his distance.

" _But I DO care!_ ", he admitted, realizing he almost wanted to cry himself. "I don't want Bill to hurt you! I care about you too much to get hurt, Pacifica!"

He could almost literally feel his heart being torn, each little string being snapped apart, and it was one of the most painful things ever. Pacifica froze, unsure if she was touched by his concern, or heartbroken by him shoving her away.

"...I _really_ want this..", Dipper admitted quietly. "I-I didn't think I ever would.. But.. _I do._ And..."

Dipper lowered his head, his hat hiding his eyes from Pacifica's. He felt himself internally torn between wanting love and being scared. Slowly, Pacifica tried to approach him. She managed to go as far as placing a hand on his arm.

"Dipper...", she almost begged.

The young boy jerked his arm away from her and ran right by her. Fear winning over him.

"Just stay away from me!", Dipper ran straight to the house. "I'm sorry!"

The door was pushed open and Mabel quickly came to the sound.

"So how'd it-! _Whoa!_ "

She stopped and swerved to the side as Dipper ran by her and up the stairs to his room.

"Wait, what happened?!", Mabel called up the stairs.

She heard the bedroom door slam shut and flinched at the sound. Worry crawled through Mabel and she came out to the back porch to find Pacifica slowly walking back up to the house. Tears pouring, try as the young blonde might to make them stop. Mabel's guts knotted up, she looked between the two, and then went to check on Pacifica.

* * *

 _Laura: WHEW! Man! That was a lot! But really I just didn't feel right leaving only half of it for a "full chapter"._

 _Amber: If any of you crazy freaks (and I say that with love, btw,) read this whole thing in one sitting, I give you ten internet cookies. *throws cookies at you* Now get up and stretch your legs, man. XD_


	8. Chapter 8

_Amber: Whoa, I totally underestimated you guys. I can't believe how many of you earned those internet cookies! :O *Looks in cookie jar* ...I'm gonna need to make some more... xD_

 _Laura: Now for a little downtime. Hope you all enjoy it. ^^_

* * *

Dipper reached his bedroom, allowed a few tears to slip by his face, and then sadly walked over and fell face-first into his bed. He sighed, buried his face a little more into the pillow, and then laid it to the side to breathe as he let the hurt sink heavily into his heart. He couldn't stop himself from crying. He didn't even try. And by the time Mabel had come up the stairs to check on him, he felt numb entirely. He hid himself under his pillow, his thoughts were a swirling mess, like a hurricane had blown through.

"...Dipper?", Mabel asked quietly as she came in.

Dipper paused but then pulled himself out from underneath the pillow and looked back tiredly at Mabel. His eyes were so heavy and bloodshot that is made even optimistic Mabel's heart sink.

"...Hey Mabel..", he greeted, his voice croaked.

They sat in silence for a long time. Mabel wasn't quite sure how to piece out all the questions that buzzed in her mind. Not to mention the overbearing guilt for having encouraged Paz to begin with since apparently all it lead to was heartbreak.

"...Mabel?", Dipper finally spoke up. He looked scared as he stared at the pillow. "...how do you think..this deal with Bill is gonna work out..five years from now? Or 2 years?"

Mabel's heart sunk further. Still she tried to smile, if for no other reason, out of mere habit.

"...We'll work something out..maybe..", she mumbled.

"..Yeah but like..what?", Dipper asked, rolling onto his side to face her now. "I mean.. I can't even be with Pacifica.. Mabel..."

Mabel looked back and they both mirrored a very worried face.

"...What happens when Summer's over?", Dipper asked in a very timid voice. Suddenly a new thought struck him and his eyes widened a bit more. "Oh my gosh, no Mabel! Wh-What happens when Mom and Dad find out? _What if Bill tries to kill Mom and Dad?!_ "

He suddenly sat up and then held his head as a pain throbbed its way through from emotional exhaust and blood rush. His mind began to race with his terror to fuel it. Every possible worse-case scenario flashed through the boy's mind and he felt his heart seize up in a moment of sheer panic.

" _Whoa!_ Whoa, slow down Dipper!", Mabel flinched, scared at the possibility. "Mom and Dad are Pines! They're our family! You said he can't hurt friends and FAMILY, didn't you?"

"I didn't list them specifically!", Dipper's breathing became shallow and his face paled. _"I didn't list them!"_

 _"THEY'RE OUR FAMILY AND BILL CANNOT BE ALLOWED TO KILL THEM."_ , Mabel's voice was suddenly very firm which momentarily surprised the girl. They were both suddenly very scared by these thoughts. "Even he knows that! Friendship can always be questioned, but I'm sure even BILL knows what family is!"

"But then what about school?!", Dipper continued in his panic attack. "I could never go back to school!"

"We'll figure something out! Maybe I can bring homework to you!", Mabel tried to help.

"Yeah, but Mabel, you can't do EVERYTHING for me!", Dipper scoffed.

 _"I WOULD do everything for you!"_ , Mabel argued back, the volume of her voice suddenly soaring and surprising both twins.

Dipper suddenly shut up, caught off guard by Mabel suddenly shouting at him. Mabel stared at him, not backing down from what she said. But she was surprised to feel herself wanting to cry a little, having said it out loud. Mabel tried to calm down a little and spoke softly again, her eyes swept to the floor.

"...Like..how you do everything for _me._ ", she admitted, looking a little heartbroken. She then sighed some. "..But it seems like no matter what I try to do..it just makes you feel worse.. Like when I told Paz that she should tell you how she felt."

The day was full of surprises and Dipper was constantly thrown for a loop. But looking back on it in retrospect, it was obvious by the sing-song tone in her voice and the mischievous grin on her face. Dipper felt touched that his sister was trying to find a way to make this any easier on him and that by her actions, he and Pacifica did realize how much they liked each other.

"...Thank you.", he said quietly.

"Huh?", Mabel looked back up at him.

"I'm...actually REALLY glad I know how Pacifica and I feel about each other now.", Dipper smiled a little. "And that I got to have that moment with her.. I know I kinda ruined it.. I was thinking about Bill and all. But that's kinda the point.. In that one small moment...I wasn't being paranoid about him. I couldn't even think about him. I was just... _happy._ I'm happy to have had that moment with her and it's one of the few things Bill can't ever take away from me.. For as long or as short as it lasted, it was just... _perfect_... Because you told her to come tell me. Thank you, Mabel.. I'm really glad I know how I feel about her."

"But... You're _hurt_...", Mabel reminded him, frowning a bit more herself.

Dipper nodded. There was no arguing that.

"Yeah... I know that cause of the deal...I don't ever have a chance dating anyone at all..", Dipper sighed some, slumping a little at the thought. "..Let alone Pacifica.."

Mabel's eyes widened and she came really close to shedding tears. A life without love was one of the most heartbreaking things she ever thought she could hear.

"...I'm still glad I had the moment.", Dipper tried really hard to sound more optimistic. "Cause I know that if I wasn't always tagged by Bill.. I actually did have a chance.."

He managed a smile and then soon filled it out more genuinely. He really was happy to have had that moment at all. Even thinking back to it, his heart still fluttered with excitement and young love.

"...I'm _really_ glad you told her to come tell me..", he nodded a little.

Mabel watched him and soon found herself smiling a little too. He did look like he was doing better, and even as happy as he claimed. She came over and hugged her brother.

"...I'm glad I made you happy.", Mabel said at last.

Dipper hugged her back.

"Thank you."

"Of course."

They let go and sat on Dipper's bed for a while. Dipper felt like everything in him wanted to slump into the bed and sink in there. His head felt like lead, making it hard for his neck to hold it up. He did slouch a little and closed his eyes at the very least.

"...Soo.. What _did_ happen?", Mabel asked innocently.

Dipper cracked his eyes open and look over at her curiously.

"...Didn't Pacifica say anything?", he asked.

"She was kinda too upset..", Mabel shrugged. "She just said 'I knew it wouldn't work out. Sorry Mabel, but I'm going home.' and left."

"Oh..", Dipper felt a little guilty.

"So, _what happened?_ ", Mabel urged, a smile creeping onto her face.

This time, Dipper immediately knew what his sister was planning, wanting in on the gossip of one's love-life. He smirked a little and then shrugged casually.

"Nothing much.", he said indifferently. "She told me how she felt and then started _rambling_ on about her parents and snacks or something. I was still sorting it all out in my head cause Stan and Stan were picking on me earlier while I was waiting for you to get home. Finally she waited for me to say something and we kissed. No big deal-"

 ** _"OH MY GOSH!"_** , Mabel screamed.

Dipper could literally feel her scream reverberate through the floor and walls, up the bed posts, and into his feet and it made all the bones in his skeleton rattle from its intensity.

" _OW!_ Mabel!", Dipper rubbed his ear while smiling but was soon tackled into a tight, squeezing hug while Mabel bounced up and down on the bed in all uncontrollable excitement.

"DIPPER! _AAAH!_ OH MY GOSH! **_YOUR FIRST KISS!_** _OH MY GOSH!_ OH MY-! _Oh my gosh!_ Oh! OH _NO!_ ", Mabel's huge face-splitting smile suddenly disappeared into a look of horror. "Oh _my gosh!_ OH NO! _Dipper!_ "

Her horror fell way to despair as she remembered that this relationship would never be.

" _Oh_ my gosh no wonder you two were- _Oh my gosh!_ Oh I'm so _SO_ sorry Dipper! Dipper, I'm _so sorry!_ ", Mabel still went on.

"Mabel, _MABEL!_ It's fine.", Dipper laughed a little, amused by his sister's reaction and his own ability to predict such a reaction. "Mabel, calm down!"

He grabbed her hands which were pulling on her hair and sat them on the bed instead.

"Like I said. I'm still really glad I had that with her.", he chuckled.

"Yeah but.."

"It's fine _._ ", Dipper insisted. "...Actually it was _AMAZING._ Heh."

Dipper could feel the fluttering blissful feeling course its way through him again at the memory. Mabel squealed a little, seeing the blush crawl back into Dipper's cheeks.

"Really?"

"Yeah, really.", Dipper nodded and scratched the back of his neck. "It was.. Oh man.. _Wow..._ I'm still not over it!"

"Oh my gosh, that's so awesome for you Dipper!", Mabel bounced a little still.

"..See, Bill couldn't take that away from me.", Dipper shrugged. "My _first kiss?_ _With Pacifica?_ Yeah. Seriously Mabel. _THANK YOU_ for telling her to come here.. Thank you for encouraging us to have that moment."

"You're totally welcome!", Mabel squealed.

"Actually, I'm surprised you weren't spying on us.", Dipper admitted.

"I was, but then Grandpa Stanley pulled me away.", Mabel rolled her eyes, still smiling just the same.

"Finally! Someone gets the meaning of the word _PRIVACY._ ", Dipper almost laughed.

"Yeah, but Dipper. We're _twins_. We're supposed to know about everything that goes on with each other!", Mabel teased. "I had every good reason to spy on you and Pacifica!"

"Actually I kinda wish you were, not because I want you meddling or sticking your nose into my love-life, but because maybe I would've been able to focus a little more on what Pacifica was saying if I knew she had someone nearby to keep her safe from Bill.", Dipper smirked.

Mabel's smile quickly disappeared. She felt a pit in her stomach at the thought. Again, she remembered how it seemed like all she did was let Dipper down.

"Mabel?", Dipper's voice cut through her thoughts as he watched his sister's face fall with depression. "...Are you okay? Sorry. I didn't mean to bring you down with that. I was trying to be funny."

"...I'm sorry..", Mabel said quietly. "I.. I guess it just really hit me that...you can't really be happy with this deal with Bill."

"Oh... Yeah.. I guess you're right..", Dipper's tone also dropped to more dismal.

"...I mean.. It's really cool that you had your first kiss and you and Pacifica would've been happy together and all.. But that's just it.. You WOULD'VE been..."

"...it is kinda hard to have a love-life with a demon..", Dipper sighed. "...That's why I freaked out with the thought of us going back home.. I don't know if I'll just..permanently live here with Grunkle Stan or something."

Depressing thoughts quickly consumed the poor boy's mind once more. It was an easy thing for him now and he soon sighed again and was once more, weighed down by these worries.

"...and I guess you'll be going back home and..and _try_ to explain it to Mom and Dad..", he sighed.

Mabel almost whined a little with the gut-wrenching thought of leaving her brother behind. Him growing up with no one outside the family to love.

Dipper was surprised a little when Mabel hugged him close. He guessed why and hugged her back.

"...Hey, I'll be okay. ...somehow...", he reassured weakly.

"No, you _won't_..", Mabel stated bluntly. "...But I promise, somehow before this Summer's over, we'll find a way to get you out of this deal..."

"What? Whoa, hold up there Mabel! _No!_ ", Dipper pulled back from her.

"But Dipper!", Mabel whined.

"No! No no _no no no_ , hang on a minute! I _never_ said I wanted this deal to be broken!", Dipper insisted.

"But it's making you _miserable!_ ", Mabel argued.

"It's the only thing I've got to make sure Bill never possesses you again and if that means I don't have a girlfriend, then fine! It's worth it!", Dipper tried to argued, though he felt pained having said it. "Mabel, I've already had Bill possess me before. But seeing you being possessed by him.. As long as that never happens again, then this is all _worth it_.."

" _Is it, REALLY Dipper?_ ", Mabel looked about as hurt as he felt. "I don't think we'd be in _any_ more danger than we were BEFORE all this started!"

"This is my only guarantee of knowing he won't ever trick you.", Dipper stated firmly.

"Who's to say I would be tricked again after all THIS?", Mabel asked.

"That's the trouble! That's like, one of my biggest things, Mabel!", Dipper rolled his eyes. "Remember back to when you were planning that Sock Opera? And I said I wouldn't trust Bill after he _first_ showed up? And then what happened? He waited me out and then I got desperate and he tricked me! Isn't that what he did to you? You thought you were doing the right thing only to find out it was _very WRONG?_ "

"Well.. ...Yeah...", Mabel faltered a little.

"Okay yeah, well I don't want that to happen again!", Dipper pressed. "I know Grunkle Stan and Stanley wouldn't ever listen to him again, but Bill IS a demon and he's _really_ clever! Mabel, do you know how scared I was of seeing you being possessed by him? It haunts me every single night. Just that ONE memory of you being tied to the table. Just THINKING about it, I can already feel anxious, or like I want to scream! It's like a horrible nightmare!"

Mabel watched as tears welded up behind Dipper's eyes. But the boy didn't dare cry.

"...I'd _gladly_ live with this for the rest of my natural life if it meant you wouldn't _ever_ have to go through anything like it.", Dipper fell back onto the bed with his arms folded across his chest. "I don't want you to break this deal.. I don't want him to try to hurt you.. Even with nightmares... It's awful Mabel... It's like you're constantly in this thick fog and all your self-esteem is drained out of you. And it's always weird, constantly being pulled out of my body. When I come back in, it's like I have to readjust to what it's like to feel things... ...I don't want you to go through anything like it. _EVER._ "

Mabel sighed sadly and laid down on the bed as well with a small thump. She didn't say it aloud, but in her mind Mabel made the solemn vow of finding a way to get Dipper out of this. She didn't want to see him in pain any more than he wanted her to go through it.

Somehow, while lost in her thoughts, Dipper had fallen asleep. At least lightly. It was about 11, yet so much has already happened. And last night's short sleep didn't help a thing. Mabel sighed and got off the bed carefully and tip-toed out of the room. She looked back and saw Dipper roll over and sigh, falling into a deeper sleep, and then left.

Mabel headed downstairs and sat down on the living room floor with a sigh.

"..Hey, you okay Mabel?", Stanley asked, looking up from the table. "How's Dipper?"

"...I wanna do something about this thing with Bill and Dipper..", she sighed. "But I don't know what I can do.. I mean.. It's doing nothing but hurting Dipper and I can't stand it! And Dipper keeps saying it's okay, it's worth it and all, but..."

"Yeah..", Stanley nodded. "I think we all feel the same way you do. We all wanna help Dipper with this, but he won't let us. And even if he did want us to help him, I don't know what we can do. Whatever happens, we'll always be stuck with how to get Bill out of his body."

"It's so annoying..", Mabel grumbled.

"Tell me about it..", Stanley agreed and then sighed and leaned on his elbow, staring down at Journal 1 on the table. "But what can I say? Even if he is kind of under our thumb based on physical limits, Bill's pretty tricky."

"Wish we could trick _him_ out of the contract or something.", Mabel huffed.

Stanley chuckled and flipped another page in the book.

"Yeah. I do too. But it's kinda hard to out-smart a demon who's been around for _a couple thousand years._ ", Stanley noted.

"Whoa, wait what?", Wendy stopped on her way by, overhearing the last bit of that. "But you're like.. _the Author!_ "

Soos poked his head in, also curious. Stanley just laughed and shook his head.

"You keep calling me that. What exactly does that title have to entail?", he asked, looking back at the two.

"Well like.. Dude, you're supposed to know _everything._ ", Soos shrugged. "Your journals always helped us out of things!"

"Yeah, Dude! You're supposed to like, have every answer for any kinda apocalypse!", Wendy scoffed a little, smiling. "Nuclear fall-out? No problem. Friends and family turned to zombies? Oh yeah, just turn to page-whatever and sprinkle this stuff on them. You'll be fine!"

Soos, Wendy, and Mabel laughed a little. Stanley shrugged.

"I've only been chasing these paranormals for what, 6 years? I still have a lot to learn.", he admitted. "I'm a long ways away from knowing EVERYTHING."

"That's just so _weird_ , man! Cause you're _THE AUTHOR._ ", Wendy chuckled, she and Soos walked in and sat around.

"Well I am sorry to disappoint people who are apparently fans of my work..", Stanley chuckled a little. "But I am still just as human as you people are."

"Human? _YOU?_ ", Ford noted as he walked by, stopping to come in on the conversation. "I'm sorry, but last I checked, having 6-fingers was STILL an abnormality and even more so when you find a disgusting gelatinous mess hatching from an egg, CUTE."

Stanley laughed a little at the last comment.

"Oh come on! Stan! You can't seriously still be disgusted that could you?", Stanley asked. "The shapeshifter's hatching was _precious!_ A miracle of life!"

"Still disgusting.", Ford shrugged and leaned in the doorway.

 _"Eewwwwww!"_ , the kids laughed a little in disgust.

"You saw it HATCHING?", Wendy asked.

"And you thought it was _CUTE_?", Mabel giggled.

Stanley shrugged.

"No one has my perspective.", he waved it off casually. "Oh well. At least you're not calling me a _fa_ -"

"Aah- _da-da-da-da_! We don't need to say _that_ in front of Mabel.", Ford quickly cut in. "Why do you think I haven't called you that yet?"

"Augh! Dang it!", Stanley rolled his eyes. "Mabel, why do you have to be so young and too innocent for my foul-mouth?"

"Cause I'm just perfect that way.", Mabel beamed extra cutely for effect.

"And don't ever change that either, Sweetie.", Stanford smiled.

"Wow.. You sound like.. So different than you do in your Journals though.", Wendy commented.

Stanley shrugged.

"Hey I wasn't always psychotic or professional sounding. It's just kind of like a job, y'know? I actually started out here hoping I could gather information about the paranormals that I could publish in a more official book, maybe a series. But you know how things are. The deeper you dig, the more of a pit you trap yourself into. I ultimately only wound up with more questions than answers.", Stanley sighed a little and looked back down at the pages of the book he had opened up. "..That's kind of where I got into trouble, I guess."

"Wanna bet?", Stanford asked. "But I mean, I can't really blame, you. I know Bill didn't make things any easier. You know, promising you all the answers to the universe and such."

"Yeah, but I shouldn't have pushed you away.", Lee sighed and then he leaned back in his seat and looked back at Mabel. "See, Mabel, I know you wanna help your brother and all.. And I certainly don't wanna discourage it. When Bill was attacking Stan and I, he hit us where it hurt most. _Our brotherhood._ He made Stanford suspicious and I thought he was nice. It drove a wedge between us, because Bill's clever that way. The next thing I know, we're fighting, day in and out, always circling back to if we can trust him or each other. It's like we both saw two completely different demons."

"The sad thing is, I don't think either one of us really _wanted_ to fight.", Ford shrugged.

"No.. We didn't..", Lee added sadly. "...What worries me is what Dipper's doing with Bill around now. He's isolating himself the same way I did. I don't know how we'll get through to him either. He keeps shoving us away, saying he's okay... But it's quite obvious that he isn't."

"...Whoa.. You don't mean Dipper could actually go CRAZY, do you?", Wendy asked worriedly. "Like, in the coo-coo house kinda crazy?"

"Maybe a little psychologically unbalanced. I don't know about an _asylum_ , but I never really believed in psychologists anyway.", Stanley noted. "But you guys see it don't you? Dipper's already paranoid. With Bill hovering around all the time and making Dipper want to isolate himself to keep threats to a minimum. Dipper's most likely to slip into anxiety and depression, maybe a little schizophrenia. His self-esteem will certainly drop to a whole different kind of low and Dipper's only _12 years-old._ It's already kinda hard on him as it is in this young and impressionable age."

"...Okay, we've GOTTA do something for Dipper.", Mabel cringed.

"Mabel, you keep forgetting. Dipper keeps trying to shrug off his troubles. If the stupid kid would just talk to us, it really _would help him feel better._ ", Stanford pointed out, frowning a little himself. "And that's not me being hard on Dipper or anything. I'm worried about him too. But if you'll notice, even though Dipper's a complete wimp, he's trying really hard this time to make sure you don't worry about him."

Mabel sighed some and her face fell to the floor in defeat.

"But.. Still.. If we just hung out with him.. Could that help?", Wendy asked.

"It'd take his mind off his troubles..", Stanley shrugged.

"Dudes, I dunno about you guys, but I just keep wondering...", Soos shrugged. "Why is it that Bill keeps wanting to mess with us anyway? I mean.. Dude does a really good job at it and all.. But does he go around and mess with everyone like _this_?"

"Yeah, actually, that is weird. Why is it you guys, specifically?", Wendy asked, gesturing to the Pines family. "I mean, I know he's got a run-in with you and your bro, Mr. Pines, but.. Mabel and Dipper?"

The older set of twins exchanged looks at the notion, both conveying a similar hidden message. Stanford then looked worried and Stanley looked more stern.

Stanley then made a sweeping motion with his hand to the others in the room.

Stanford frowned even more and shook his head. He hesitated and then pushed his hands together and folded them open with a questioning look on his face. He made a triangle with his hands and put it over his eye, then pointed with one hand and made a circular motion in the air.

Stanley rolled his eyes, his head knocked back a little and rolled his hand with a nod. He then used both hands, stuck out his thumb and 6th finger out for each one, and joined the two hands together at the thumb and pinky and held this up between him and Stanford. He then waved again to the others and made a series of wiggling motions with his right index finger before pointing back down at the book.

"What are they _doing_?", Mabel asked.

"Dude, I think it's like some sorta secret sign language?", Soos shrugged.

Stanford only glowered a little and shook his head. He still looked really worried.

Lee looked disbelieving and tapped his wrist.

Ford waved at his brother and then gestured to the group again. He then used his right hand and patted the air a few times, from right to left, lowering his hand a little with each tap.

Ford's face then changed to more of a questioning look. He waved again, it kind of looked like he was trying to single out Mabel, and then pointed at his jacket. He swept his index finger across his chest and marked out a star on the other side.

He pointed to the ceiling and then grabbed something invisible in front of his forehead with one hand and something behind his head with the other hand and jerked the two so his first hand went down and his second hand went up. He looked like he was adjusting a hat.

Stanley held out a fist, palm-side up, and opened it, raising the hand up at the same time, nodding all the while with a definite look of confirmation as he motioned in time with his brother.

Stanford finally groaned, looking defeated and for once, really scared.

Stanley held out his hands, palm-side facing Stanford as if trying to gently reassure him. He pounded a fist to his heart, then pointed to his temple, and then did the same hand-patting-the-air-gesture that Ford had done.

He repeated the index-to-pinky-link sign he had done earlier, still keeping it between the two of them, and repeated the air-patting once more and held up two fingers. He looked like he was trying to be gentle yet firm in whatever it was he was saying.

Stanford sighed and rubbed his eyes, obviously defeated.

"...Stan.", Lee finally said, as if trying to coax his brother into something.

"No, you win. Okay? It's fine. _Give them nightmares._ ", Ford huffed, scowling away from his brother.

"What?", Mabel asked, not sure if she really wanted to.

"Well they're bound to figure it out sooner or later. If they haven't already.", Stanley argued.

"Dang it, Lee, they're _only KIDS!_ ", Ford's voice rose.

"WHAT?", Wendy cut through.

Both of them sighed and Lee pulled out Journal 2. He flipped through the pages.

"About a couple of months ago-"

 _"Thirty years."_

"Thir-?", Stanley paused but then rolled his eyes and heaved a long sigh. "...Thank you. Thirty years ago... _Is there any not-old-sounding way of saying that?_ ...A-anyway, there were dreams of Bill Cipher. And in them, he kept showing us this."

He showed the kids his entry on Cipher. The wheel of symbols circling around the mystic triangle. The three gathered closer and looked at the picture carefully.

"...Sooo... What?", Wendy asked. "What do any of these have to do with...?"

"Uh.. Wendy?", Mabel frowned a little more and pointed to one of the symbols at the top.

A pair of rounded glasses.

Stanley watched as 3 pairs of eyes slowly turned up to look at him and then widened a little more. He looked down a little solemnly.

The trio looked back at the book and soon other symbols began to jump out too. The 6-fingered hand. Stanford's fez.

"Is that a pine..", Mabel pointed and then her eyes widened as Bill's voice echoed in the back of her mind. "... _Pinetree_...?"

"Whoa, wait wait wait! What's that supposed to mean?!", Soos asked, backing up. "Cause.. Cause didn't he call you Sh-shooting Star?"

"An-an-and he called _you_ Question Mark!", Mabel pointed.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, okay so what's this supposed to mean?", Wendy asked.

"That I still haven't figured out.", Stanley shrugged hopelessly and looked back at the pages himself. "But when I first got here I noticed the symbols pretty quickly.. I've got a feeling that anyone who's tied to them is a part of some larger scheme.. And Bill wants to destroy these Journals before I figure out what the scheme is. The trouble is, I have no idea what these could possibly mean. They're so completely random! I mean... _Ice Bag?_ "

"I still don't think Dipper or Mabel have to be a part of any of this.", Stanford grumbled. "If what you're saying is true and we're actually pawns in a bigger apocalypse Bill's stirring up, who's to say they have to be a part of anything?! They're only 12!"

"Cause, it's pretty obvious. They're the Shooting Star and Pinetree.", Stanley sighed. "I don't know what all this is about exactly either, but he simply can't kill any of us or destroy the Journals."

"..But if he ends up USING us?", Ford pressed. "Like how he's using Dipper?"

"I don't. KNOW. STANFORD.", Lee growled a little, closing the book and looking back at his brother sternly. "I don't know! I don't know everything! All I know is that we can't give him what he wants no matter what."

Before another question was asked, there was a loud clatter and thump from upstairs. Ford and Mabel raced for the stairs and Mabel was the first to make it into the bedroom where Dipper was picking himself up from the middle of the floor. The end table between his and Mabel's bed was accidentally turned over. The boy groaned and rubbed his head.

"Dipper! are you okay?", Mabel asked immediately, coming over.

"Yeah... Ow.. Sorry.. I was rolling around a lot in my sleep..", Dipper groaned.

Ford took a breath, trying to calm down his nerves.

"Nightmares? Is Bill bothering you?", he asked, walking into the room and kneeling down to Dipper's height.

"Nah. I'm okay.", Dipper tried to smile.

"Are you _sure?_ ", Ford asked with a stern look on his face.

Dipper was a bit surprised by this. He looked up at his Grunkle Stan and leaned his head to the side a little, curious of the sudden attention. He glanced around a bit, as if looking for the answer or another person he may have been talking to and then shrugged.

"Yeah. I'm fine.", he said.

"Good.", Stanford seemed to relax a little and stood back up. "Why don't you kids come downstairs now?"

Dipper and Mabel followed him out and back into the living room. Everyone looked up as Dipper walked in.

"Oh hey dudes, you okay?", Soos asked.

"Yeah. Just rolled around in my sleep.", Dipper scratched the back of his head with a sheepish grin.

"You sure? It wasn't like.. A nightmare or anything, right Dipper?", Wendy asked.

Again, Dipper was a little surprised by how pressing they were as Wendy, Soos, and Stanley watched him carefully.

"..Guys, I'm _fine._ ", Dipper reassured.

He didn't noticed Stanford and Lee exchanging looks. Ford glanced down at Dipper and pointed at the boy from behind. Lee made the slightest shake of his head while Dipper wasn't looking and Ford dropped the matter.

Dipper and Mabel headed into the room and Lee looked back down at the Journal he had opened up. He nodded a little to himself and closed the books again and put them away in his coat.

"Hey, Ford, I'm out.", he announced, standing up.

"Huh? Where to?", Stanford asked.

"The woods.", Stanley explained. "I'll probably be back by nightfall at latest."

"Wow, that's quite a flashback..", Stanford frowned a little and then shook his head. "Well whatcha up to now, Nerd?"

"I'm gonna be..", a thought struck Stanley and after a moment, he looked back at Dipper and smiled a bit. "Actually... I'm gonna be collecting a few ingredients for a recipe I wrote down. And I'd like some help collecting them, if it's okay."

Dipper's eyes widened with excitement and a huge grin sprouted on the boy's face, weakly reminding him of the injuries Bill had given him the last couple of days. It had accidentally left his mind entirely that Stanley was in fact the very Author that Dipper had been looking for all Summer and had been so excited to work with had the boy ever the chance of actually meeting him.

"Uh, gee, Lee, I dunno..", Ford hesitated. "I mean.. You know, with how things are right now.."

"Oh, come on, I promise this isn't gonna be like how it is most times.", Lee tried to reassure. "I'll be keeping an _exceptionally_ good eye on Dipper. Come on, Ford."

"Well...", Ford seemed uneasy with the idea. "I mean, it's YOU we're talking about Stanley.."

"Oh come on, let the kid have some bonding time with his Grandpa Stan.", Stanley persisted. "Bond-ing-time! Bond-ing-time!"

Dipper joined in, all too enthusiastic for the opportunity.

 _"Bond-ing-time! Bond-ing-time! Bond-ing-time! Bond-ing-time!"_

"Alright, _alright!_ ", Stanford laughed and shook his head. "Man, you really ARE still stuck in 1982 aren't you?"

"Yes.", Stanley grinned widely.

"Fine, but keep an eye on the time will ya? 2 hours, _tops,_ and then you two should eat lunch.", Ford insisted.

"I see you haven't completely dropped '82 either.", Stanley noted with a smirk.

"Hey, I'm not the one who got three grown men lost in the woods for 2 days straight.", Ford remarked. "Just because I 'thought I saw something' that wasn't anything to do with what we were SUPPOSED to be doing."

This made the others snicker and Stanley shrugged meekly with a sheepish grin.

"Well... Got me there."

Dipper and Stanley grabbed a few supplies, stored them in Dipper's backpack, and headed out of the house and into the woods.

"Oh man, this is gonna be _so cool!_ ", Dipper almost bounced with excitement. "Ever since I found your Journal in the woods, I've always wanted to go on monster hunts and stuff with you!"

"I have to admit, it's pretty flattering to have such a huge fan.", Stanley commented and pulled out Journal 1 again. "Unfortunately you wouldn't really get to help me discover anything new. It's not that kinda hike into the woods. We're just picking up a few ingredients for a potion recipe I had."

"Hey, it's still awesome!", Dipper said, the grin never leaving his face. "What do we need to get?"

"Let's see..", Stanley fingered the page. "Um.. I'll need a few samples of Draco-Puffer."

"What's that?"

"It's a kind of mushroom. They grow in small patches at the bases of redwood trees. They're puff-ball mushrooms too, so we'll have to be careful picking them out.", Stanley noted. "The spores get onto you, _oh boy,_ it isn't pretty. They burn like fire and then afterwards you keep itching and scratching worse than poison ivy. If you scratch at the burn too long, you're skin will start turning to scales like a dragon."

" _Whoa..._ That sounds amazing!", Dipper gaped.

Stanley laughed at the boy's enthusiasm.

"Ha ha ha ha! That's exactly what I said when it happened to me! I thought it was cool too!", he rolled his eyes. "And then, Fiddleford was SO distraught and upset. He insisted we checked into a hospital. But of course, what do people at the hospital know? The best cure I found for it though was cold water as soon as the spores touched and a constant apply of aloe and tea-tree oil that was mixed together into a paste with cornstarch for a base."

"Wow, really? What's tea-tree oil?", Dipper asked.

"It's an essential oil. Extracts from different kinds of plants.", Stanley explained. "It works great for normal burns, just like aloe which comes from a cactus plant. Mix the two of them up together with cornstarch and keep it cold. You apply it 2 to 3 times a day, the scales disappear. You're back to normal. I used to have a whole box of different kinds of oils and even an aloe plant, but I wouldn't be surprised if Stanford had used them or gotten rid of them."

"Wow.. So you just used natural stuff you'd find around the house to heal something paranormal?", Dipper asked.

"Dipper, the deeper you dig into these paranormals out here, the more you realize that they're just like any other piece of nature. Only a touch more dangerous.", Stanley remarked. "It's why I loved being out here so much. Stanford can tell you, I'm a real naturalist. I love studying the biological building of various plants and the living patterns and webs of life strung together by creatures. Even if they're threatening to destroy me, it's always fascinated me as to why they would or what would be a better way of understanding them. People call me crazy, but even Category 10 ghosts and demons are utterly amazing to me."

Dipper gazed up at his grandfather, completely awed by his passion. It was even more so than the boy imagined what the Author would be like. Though he did seem kinda crazy, if he really meant that he actually LIKED being chased by gremoblins and other things that could potentially kill him, but somehow it was a crazy that seemed really admirable.

Just then Dipper noticed something and brightened up even more.

"Oh look, there's a redwood!", he pointed out.

"Excellent!"

The two ran over and carefully inspected the base of the tree. Fortunately, it was one that had a few small samples of Draco-puffers. Stanley handed Dipper a pair of rubber gloves.

"Now, if I recall, the best trick to taking them off would be to.."

"Pinch them at the stems?", Dipper asked.

Stanley looked at him surprised and then smiled some more.

"Yeah! How'd you know?"

"I read a little bit about puffball mushrooms and how the tops of them shake out the spores. I guess if you grab them by the stem, they should be alright, right?"

"Smart kid. But make sure you keep a steady hand, Dipper. These are a bit more sensitive to movement than typical puffballs. I'd say we'd want about..", he glanced at Dipper. "..Mm... Better go with 3 to be sure."

"Why do you want these?", Dipper asked, curious as ever.

"Aside from them being burning hot like dragon fire, these things have a medicinal benefit.", Stanley explained. "They're great at making your skin feel warm and numb if you extract it just right."

"Cool."

" _Hot_ , actually."

The two of them had to pull their hands back to laugh at the joke.

"I'm sorry, I know that's lame.", Lee apologized.

"No! Ha ha ha ha! It's the same kinda joke I would've made!", Dipper laughed.

They laughed a little longer, partially because they found it funny how much they were laughing over the joke to begin with. Then a thought came to Dipper.

"Oh hey, wait Grandpa Stanley? Would this help?", Dipper pulled out a pocket knife he always kept in his vest.

"Yeah, thanks, Dipper.", Stanley smiled and nodded.

They took turns, soon collected the mushrooms and moved on.

For a while they were at this, but more and more did the two stop to point out something, a growth of a plant or a tracking of this paranormal creature. Both amazed by how alike the other one was. Taking notes of what a creature might've been doing at such-and-such time or what medicinal benefits they can gather from something else.

Finally, they were just stopping to take a break on a fallen tree when Stanley looked up at the sky and noticed the sun.

"SHI- _Er-_ SHOOT!"

"What?"

"Stanford's gonna _kill me._ ", he quickly pulled out a watch and looked at the time. "Yup. 3 hours since we left! It's after 1 already."

"Oh man. Do we have everything?", Dipper asked, looking at his backpack on the ground by their feet.

"We're an ingredient short.", Stanley sighed and tucked the watch back in. "Dang it! I need it too! But if it's where I remembered, it's at least another 10-minutes hike. We won't be back until ten-till-2."

"Hmm..", Dipper frowned and looked at the ground.

The two sat in silence, thinking it over. Stanley finally sighed and shrugged.

"I guess Ford's just gonna have to kill me. _I NEED that herb._ ", he said at last.

"Well why? What's all this for?", Dipper asked.

"It's actually to help you with those scabs and bruises Bill's been giving you.", Lee noted, pointing and then running his finger over the scab on Dipper's cheek, making the boy flinch.

Dipper was surprised and somewhat touched. He smiled a little at his Grandpa Stan.

"Whoa... Really?"

"Yeah. Under normal conditions, you'd have to deal with them for a few more weeks. But this potion would've helped cleared it up in a couple of hours.", Stan explained. "So I was hoping it'd just take us an hour's worth of hiking through the woods and wouldn't have stressed you out too badly, but I guess we've been playing a bit more than we've been working..."

He rolled his eyes.

"I can just hear Stan now. _'Leave it to you to forget the time! Been spending too much time gawking over plants than you were actually finding what you needed!'_ Geez, he's gonna tear me a new one... _again._ ", Stan shook his head. "Thirty years..He's really gotten concerned about family... But he's gonna have to deal with that. That's not even what I'm really worried about. I'm really sorry Dipper, I should've stopped to consider what a stress on your body this has been."

"What, no, it's okay.", Dipper laughed almost. "We've been spending a lot of time geeking out about kitsune tracks and I've been learning so much from you! This was tons of fun!"

"Dipper, don't lie to me. You're exhausted.", Stanley smiled a little, though was still troubled by the thought.

Dipper's own smile faltered a little and he shrugged.

"Well... Kinda..", he said, rubbing his arm some. "...my legs are kinda sore..."

"Hmm...", Stanley looked around. "You really should rest.. But we're really close to this last piece... And Stanford..."

He tapped his chin, thinking things over in his mind as his eyes gazed around the woods.

"...Hey, Dipper, you can see Bill, can't you? Cause of the deal?", Stanley asked.

"Hm? Uh.. Yeah. Why?", Dipper asked, a little clueless.

"...has he been around much today?", Lee pressed on.

Dipper stopped and considered it. Truth be told he hasn't seen anything of the floating nacho. He shrugged a little.

"No. I haven't seen him at all."

"...Okay.. You think you'll be alright if you just sit here for a few minutes?", Stanley asked, looking back at Dipper with concern. "You need to rest, but if I hurry, I should be there and back in about 12 minutes. We can head back to the Shack then and start mixing this up, okay? I really need gather this all up TODAY or else the herbaceous newt's tail and river-side mosster sap-blood will dry up."

"Um...", Dipper felt a little uneasy, being in the woods by himself with Bill coming back to mind. But he didn't want to ruin this for his grandfather, especially because they were having so much fun and had been working so hard to get all of this together. Reluctantly the boy gave a nod.

"You sure?", Stanley double-checked.

"Y-Yeah..", Dipper tried to sound confident. "I mean.. What could happen, right?"

"Well an angry multi-bear might snatch you.. But that is kinda unlikely..", Stanley pondered.

"I'll be fine, Grandpa Stan. We've worked so hard to get all these things. I'm sure it wouldn't hurt."

"Okay..", Stanley nodded a little. He got up, keeping an eye on Dipper and started walking backwards, a little afraid of leaving him alone. "Just... Take it easy or holler if something happens, alright?"

"Definitely.", Dipper nodded.

Stanley gave a final nod and then tore off into the woods as fast as he could. Dipper looked around and suddenly felt very alone. Growls echoed in the distance and the boy kept rubbernecking, trying to keep an eye out for Bill.

 _'But... Why should I worry so badly?'_ , he asked himself. _'I mean.. He HASN'T been around. He might be bugging someone else today.. And he can't do any permanent damage to my body. He needs it too badly. ...Still... It's kinda unnerving when he's using my body. ...And what if he tried something when Stanley got back? But Grandpa Stan is so much stronger than me. I don't really think Bill has much of a chance.. Still, he pretty clever.. But maybe I'm being too paranoid? But... What if that one dream came true though? ...What if Bill was trying to tell me something.. That he really would try to kill everyone to get his hands on the Journals? ...but that would break what we had. I said he could have my body if he wouldn't hurt my family and so far he's true to his word. And even if he does, I'm sure I can fight with him to get him out of my body and stop hurting everyone. ...Still.. I don't think I'd ever want him to get even that far.. I guess that's why I've been wanting to be alone so much.. Drag out as mu ch time as it would take for Bill to NOT hurt them if that ever was his intention. ...That's why I had to push Pacifica away...'_

Dipper felt his heart sink as he thought back to how hurt she must've been after their kiss.

 _'...but if I didn't do anything...would he have come? Or..could I have had a few more minutes with her? And we could've left off on a better note?'_ , he dared to ask himself. _'...maybe I was the one who was ruining anything.. Not Bill... I was the one who ran away...and he hasn't shown up.. Even now.'_

Fortunately for him, the 12 minutes passed with little to show for it except a slightly more depressed boy. Stanley soon appeared as promised, and Dipper tried to smile. A part of his mind though was still worried for Bill's next return. Anticipation slowly killed Dipper like insidious poison as the two made their way back to the Shack.

"WHERE THE 'H' WERE YOU TWO?!", Stanford barked at Stanley when they got back while Lee was unpacking all the ingredients and carefully laying them out on his desk.

"The woods, Stanford.", Stanley rolled his eyes and sighed.

Dipper waited on the other side of the desk and Stanford was behind Stanley. Lee looked at Dipper's worried face, not used to hearing his grunkle yell at family like this, and smirked a little. He mimicked the facial reactions Ford was giving and was in perfect sync as the younger brother went on.

"2 hours. I SAID 2 HOURS! That's twice as long as I would've wanted you out there! I mean my gosh Stan! What the heck took you so long? Oh no lemme guess!", Dipper had to struggle to not burst out laughing and Stanley grinned deviously and slightly proud of himself for knowing his brother so well.

"Please do.", he offered with an air of arrogance.

"You two were SO busy geeking out about some stupid thing in the journals and math and whatnot to even pay attention to what time it was! Or-or you were following some monster-call you heard when you were only INCHES from the ingredient you needed!", Stanford groaned and rolled his eyes. "You're SO predictable!"

"Look Stanford, I was having fun with Dipper. Granted, we did get sidetracked but it was time well spent, I thought.", Stanley turned around, now done playing his little game with Dipper and somewhat annoyed by his brother. "Yell at me all you want, but I thought it was good for Dipper. And I'm sure you'll agree with me if you give it a little thought."

The twins glowered at each other for a good while. Stanley did have a point and Stanford knew it. They were just talking about trying to pull Dipper out of this depressive state of mind and geeking out over something supernatural was definitely one way to help him out. But that wasn't even Ford's real trouble, as Stanley also knew. Lee knew how concerned his brother was about Dipper's well-being, just as he was.

They both took a breath and tried to hash it out more calmly. Dipper watched them closely, wondering what invisible conversation he might've just missed.

"...Did you two have any troubles at all?", Ford asked, pushing up his glasses to rub his eyes a little.

"No. We didn't.", Lee reassured him. "We had a few good laughs and realized we were running late. That's all."

"Okay.. Well then lemme see if you'll remember this.", Ford tried to smile more good-naturedly at his brother and then mockingly spoke slowly. _"WILL YOU TRY TO RE-MEM-BER TO EAT SOMETHING?"_

Lee chuckled and shook his head.

"Yeah, yeah, we'll get some lunch.", he waved off his brother. "Just let me put a few of these things away and we'll stop to eat."

Ford nodded and headed out. Stanley kept to his word and put away the ingredients that would quickly spoil and then made a quick lunch for him and Dipper. They sat around Stanley's bedroom, had their lunch and got to work.

It was twilight when they had mixed everything up into a slightly gooey paste. It seemed to shimmer like glitter but was still kind of watery on top.

"Okay, now we're gonna peel back your scabs and clean you out good, okay?", he asked, pulling out more typical things like hydrogen peroxide and q-tips from his desk's drawers as well as a needle.

"Wow.. You must've been scraped a lot 30 years ago."

"Heh. Yeah..", Stanley nodded. "You pick a few things up when you've been hunting the supernatural for 6 years."

He apologized in advance for the pain and carefully began to pull back Dipper's scabs. The boy winced in pain but Stanley tried to calmly talk him through it. It helped a little. He asked about how Dipper's dad was doing. What he and Mabel were learning about in school. He kept the conversation light. Obviously he's had a lot of practice at this. Dipper tried to reply as best as he can.

The only time they didn't talk was when Stanley peeled back the scab on Dipper's cheek. Instead the man quietly hummed a small tune to himself. One Dipper didn't ever remember hearing before. He listened and wondered a little if Stanley was also a composer of sorts. When Stanley was finished he finally asked.

"Ha hah. No. I'm not.", Stanley smiled. "Just something I picked up from Fiddleford. He heard it elsewhere, said it seemed fitting to paranormal studies. No lyrics, just a little tune to whistle to. It's about the only thing non-southern I've ever heard him sing."

The only thing that unnerved Dipper was the smaller scabs that Stanley had to dig out with the needle. He tried not to shiver, but once in a while, Stanley had to pull away to keep from accidentally jabbing the boy. Still he kept a steady hand and leaned in close to make sure he did a thorough job.

"Is it really necessary?", Dipper asked at last, a little pale as he watched the blood on his right arm's gash. "I thought those were healing up.."

"They are, but I wanna make sure you're not left with any nerve-damage.", Stanley said calmly. "And this will also help clear up any scars that might've been left over."

After the scabs were off and Stanley checked to make sure it was all cleaned out, he gave their concoction one more stir and was getting ready to apply it, telling Dipper to lay back on the couch in the room.

Dipper did as instructed but flinched, trying to prepare himself for the inevitable sting that would only add to what he's been through. What he was surprisingly met with though, was a cool numbing feel. It was first very cold, and then grew warm until Dipper's arm tingled and felt numb to anything else. Stanley generously slathered some of this gooey mess over the boy's wounds.

"There we go..", he said as he finished up. "Now you just let that set for a few hours and you should be fine."

Dipper nodded, or he thought he did. Everything tingled. It felt weird. Like something fuzzy was constantly crawling around his skin. His mind wandered a little.

Stanley tried to say something but Dipper had a hard time hearing him. Something about a warning? The boy wondered if maybe his brain was being numbed by the medicine.

 _'Should I be worried? ...For some reason.. I can't be..'_

After a while, he felt like he was constantly being pushed around by some odd cloud. He couldn't feel himself sitting on the couch. His mind was a haze as it wandered away to places, even Dipper couldn't keep track of it.

 _"Dipper... Dipper?"_ , a voice called out, far away. _"Dipper...!"_

"Mm..?", Dipper mumbled, unable to really move his mouth.

He thought he saw Stanley snapping his fingers in front of Dipper's eyes, but he couldn't quite grasp it. Stanley...or Ford? One of them was laughing. At him? He couldn't tell.

What was really happening was that the potion also had the side-effect of somewhat numbing down one's mind by the fumes. Stanley was chuckling a little as Dipper mumbled quietly, lost in his own daydreams.

"I guess I must've put a little too much on, eh Dipper?", he asked, not really expecting an answer from the boy. He waved his hand in front of Dipper's face again, being answered with a glassy stare. "Well.. At least it's not like you're high or something. No worse than cleaning chemicals. I guess letting your mind unwind a little would be good for you."

It felt like all of infinity had passed by Dipper till the numbness started to ebb away. He felt drained and slightly chilled...and kind of jarred. Who was shoving him?

Dipper blinked several times before he started to recognize the feeling of a towel pushing on his arm. His head rolled to the side from another small shove and Dipper groaned, trying to pick up the pieces in his mind.

 _'Dipper Pines.. Grunkle Stan's house.. Stan.. Stanford.. Stanley. Grandpa Stanley.. Helping me with a potion..'_ , his mind worked its way back through recent events. _'Potion.. Potion made me sleepy. Grandpa Stanley was saying something about it numbing me..'_

Finally Dipper managed to feel his fingers flex and he rolled his head back the other way to look at the towel. Stanley was wiping off the remains of what was now a very sticky, dark colored, gelatinous mess all over Dipper's body.

"Hey, welcome back to the land of the living.", Stanley chuckled, seeing Dipper was focused again. "Had a nice dream?"

"Mm... Was I asleep?", Dipper asked slowly.

"Almost. Kinda just lost in a daydream. I used to have allergies that did that to me when I was younger than you.", Stanley shrugged.

"Weird...", Dipper started to raise a hand to rub his eyes but Stanley quickly stopped him.

" _Ah-ah-ah._ You wouldn't wanna accidentally rub this into your eyes.", he warned.

Stanley cleaned him up first and then let Dipper rub his eyes..as well as the rest of his body as it was still feeling slightly numb. It wasn't half as nice as it was before as Dipper's typical paranoia settled back into mind.

"Ulgh, that's so weird now!", Dipper groaned, trying to return sensation to his arms.

"Heh. Yeah. Slathering on potions would do that to ya.", Stanley chuckled with a knowing nod. "You'll be fine. Let's get some dinner."

Dipper rubbed his arms red as he followed his grandfather out.

"Okay, but Grandpa Stan? Why do I feel so...tired?", Dipper asked.

"Well you've been through a lot today, emotionally and physically speaking.", Stanley deduced. "Not to mention that the potion had to kinda take some of your own energy, which is why you were so out of it, so it could speed up the process of your cells reproducing to full heal your skin. It'll be okay though. Nothing a full night's sleep couldn't fix."

They had dinner and Mabel had her fun of poking her brother till he felt, both physically and very annoyed, again. It was a quiet evening and soon everyone was asleep again. And for once, it was a peaceful sleep.

* * *

 _Laura: Okay, I'm a nervous kinda person and I don't want any hate. So lemme explain one thing. Dipper was NOT ON SHROOMS. He wasn't high or anything like it. I wasn't sure what exactly this potion should've been like. I thought he should feel numb and the best I could surmise is basically like rubbing that abenesol tooth medicine on your tongue, but like, instead, all over your body. Kay?_

 _Also fun fact: Stanley and Stanford's quick signing is not entirely American Sign-language. There's a little of it, but a lot of it was heavily based off of signing I do with my twin Amber when we don't wanna make a lot of noise or exchange a few quick jokes._


	9. Chapter 9

_Laura: You're gonna wanna listen to this till we pick up with Pacifica. Take out the spaces.  
_

 _www. youtube (dot com/) watch?v=LUjE-UIrM8E_

* * *

Subtlety wasn't entirely his thing. Of course though, you'd have to be subtle if you wanted the shock-factor and leave your enemies with little chance of thinking and scheming against you. And now called for such a case as Bill came back around to Dipper's bedroom. He floated about the boy's sleeping body, momentarily observing his slumber. It was a deep one. Perfect.

Bill floated around behind Dipper and carefully nudged his subconscious out of it. Typically Bill had no hesitations to just flat-out shoving him aside, but the horror was definitely an element needed in this situation. The more the better.

Easily, Dipper's ghost floated out of the body, tied to the same plane of existence the demon was, and slowed to stop, hovering just a few inches over the floor between Dipper and Mabel's beds. Bill quickly took the body and woke up.

He looked up at the window. It was gray outside, the sun was just starting to come up. He slipped out of bed and headed out of the room, careful to not make a sound.

Dipper's ghost nestled into the air a bit more, and then realized he wasn't feeling a bed. A door opening and closing downstairs suddenly brought the boy to full consciousness and Dipper's eyes flew open. He saw the floor below him and gasped.

 _'What the-?! Wait..'_ , Dipper noted his being a ghost and quickly whipped his head to the bed. His body was gone. _'WHAT THE HECK?!'_

The boy quickly floated out through the wall and saw Bipper walking out of the yard in quick stride.

 _'BILL! BILL WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?'_

Dipper didn't have a heart as he raced after the demon, but he could still feel panic surge through him.

 _'BILL WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH MY BODY?!'_ , Dipper asked, finally catching up.

Bill didn't acknowledge the ghost next to him. He kept up his stride, single-minded and determined. His lips twisted into a smirk as Dipper continued to panic and a chuckle echoed from his throat demonically.

 _' BILL ANSWER ME! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! It's like, five-thirty in the morning!'_, Dipper tried desperately as he flew after the demon. _'I know you can hear me! BILL!'_

Bipper had reached the road and waited. A bus came by, due to its schedule, and he hopped on and headed into town. The demon-possessed puppet found a seat and sat down, waiting while the bus took off again. Bipper played with his fingers a little, making several variations of triangles, and then noticed something in his pocket and pulled out a small black object with a wire coming out of the side. He frowned.

"...What's this, Pinetree?", Bill asked.

 _'Wh-?! It's an mp3player. You turn it on and listen to music with the ear-buds. But what are you doing?!'_ , Dipper asked.

Bill observed the device, found the "on" button, and looked through it a while. It was gonna be a little while. He flipped through the list of songs, testing out the little triangle arrows on the wheel for the center. All the names seemed so foreign to the demon.

"...What're these?", he asked.

Dipper sighed. He wasn't going to get any answers out of him. He didn't really know what all to say but he shrugged just the same.

 _'They're folders. I have a bunch of songs that are sorted by those files.'_ , he explained, with nothing else to do. _'You put the ends of the wires into your ears to listen.'_

Bill noticed one called "Reading Journals". He became curious and moved down to it.

 _'Center button opens the folder, plays and pauses the songs.'_ , Dipper went on. _'That has the songs I like to listen to while I'm reading the Journals. Y'know. Psychology and stuff.'_

Bill did so and placed the ear buds in, unsure of if they were in properly at first. He played the first song. It was titled "Oot - Kotake & Koume's Theme". The first sounds to hit his eardrums made Bipper's body shiver and his eyes widened, but only because it was so loud. It took a moment, but soon he settled into the feeling and shook his head a little, hearing sounds bounce back and forth from one ear to the next. The ear-buds made it feel like it was all in his head and for a dream demon, that was _very_ unusual.

The demon closed his eyes and relaxed against the seat, listening. He wasn't really one much for music, but it was interesting. It wasn't that synthesized stuff that most kids listened to. He smiled a little, starting to find the feel of the song's rhythm.

He opened his eyes again and Dipper watched curiously.

Bill held up a hand and made a circular motion through the air. His wheel with the symbols appeared, as if by magic. He smiled a bit more and Dipper gasped.

 _'Wha- How-! Ho-how are you doing that?'_ , Dipper asked.

Bill chuckled again and spun the wheel with his hand. Faster and faster it went till the symbols flew off, one by one and began to circle around his head.

They bobbed and bounced in time to the music and Bill giggled a bit more. Pinetree flew up solely and circled around in front of Bill. The other symbols backed away and then encircled the tree. Suddenly it bursted into flames. Balls of glowing lights and colors also began to appear around Bill.

Dipper gasped, watching all of this happen and Bill simply kept chuckling to himself.

The lights twinkled and shot around while the symbols now danced around the burning tree. A book, the Journal without a number on it, rose up to under the Pinetree. One by one, the other symbols joined into the fire, as if by some ancient ritual. The fire grew with each addition.

Bill raised a hand over the fire and petted it a little bit, it flickered to his touch. He held another hand steadily underneath the Journal. Slowly he pressed down and it lowered onto the Journal. When the fire touched the journals it shot up into a brilliantly fierce fire and turned into a deep blue color. It burned up to the last of the ashes and then soon fell onto Bill's outstretched hand as a puddle of blood.

 _'How are you performing magic?! You're in my body!'_ , Dipper asked, horrified by what he's watched.

Bill shook his head.

The blood turned to blue and green and then hung in the air after it dripped off his hands. It circled together and formed a globe. Bill twisted his hand around so the palm faced it and quickly twisted his wrist around and fisted the hand tightly. The globe followed his hand in time and twisted into the portal. The portal cracked and exploded and then dispersed.

The song ended and Bill took out his ear-buds.

"You know what your biggest problem is Pinetree? You don't have the _slightest_ clue of _anything_.", Bill laughed.

A couple of passengers looked at the kid awkwardly and Bill noticed, making him laugh even more.

 _'...What?'_ , Dipper shook his head.

He looked at the other passengers. Aside from when Bill talked, they didn't really seem to notice him or the weird stuff he was doing. Dipper was left in utter confusion.

After a few more songs, all following with similar horrific images of Dipper's family dying or Dipper's body being a puppet that Bill played with on his fingers, finally the demon reached his destination. He turned off the mp3player and tucked it away in the vest's pocket again.

"I'll tell ya what kid. You have a lot of stupid choices to listen to, but some of the instrumental stuff was actually kinda neat.", Bill commented as he walked down the street. "About the only thing with words I liked was that dreams and fireflies one. Lyrics were way off and goofy, but sound wasn't half-bad. Especially when my ears started to bleed."

 _'I'm deleting every track you liked when I get my body back..'_ , Dipper groaned. _'You have successfully ruined all of_ Owl City _for me, man!'_

"Welp! Here we are!", Bill made a sweeping gesture.

Dipper looked and then gasped. They were standing outside the Northwest Mansion gates.

 _'What?! Wh-what are we doing here?! Bill what're you planning?! You're not gonna hurt Pacifica, are you?!'_ , Dipper asked in panic.

"What else would I be doing here?", Bill asked, flashing Dipper an evil yet toothy smile. "For a disgusting human flesh bag, she's not a bad pick, Pinetree. Cute kiss you two shared yesterday."

Dipper's eyes widened.

 ** _'Y-Y-YOU KNEW ABOUT THAT?!'_** , he shrieked.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! How wouldn't I? _YOU'RE RIGHT THERE IN THE OPEN!_ Geez! Get a room with her, Pinetree! Or better yet..", he turned his attention back to the gate and rang its bell. " _I will_ for ya..."

Inside the mansion, Pacifica hadn't been sleeping well at all that night. She had decided to just stay awake at 4:30 and had taken the time to pick up where she left off in her family's bad-name history room. To make sure the room was kept a secret from her parents though, Paz had to refrain from asking servants to help her.

Often, she had to take breaks and slip out of the room without being noticed. As of then, she was coming out of a different room, finishing wiping off any left-over dust when a servant approached her.

"Miss, you have a visitor.", he announced.

"A what?", Pacifica blinked, confused as all get out. Who would be crazy enough to visit her at 6:30 in the morning? "...Who?"

"Dipper Pines."

Pacifica's heart skipped a beat. But from adoration or fear she couldn't tell. Dipper? _Here?_ Why? What happened? Didn't he just push her away yesterday saying he didn't wanna hurt her? But that was because of Bill. A possibility struck her. Could Dipper have found a way to get rid of Bill?

"...Hurry him in.", she instructed. "And then have all the servants leave us alone."

He soon was in and Pacifica felt her heart flutter again as he smiled shyly at her.

"Hey, Paz.", the imposter greeted quietly.

"Dipper, what are you doing here?", she asked, coming over to greet him as she was fooled by Bill's act.

 _'No! Pacifica! That's not me!'_ , Dipper cried out in vain.

Dipper was horrified by Bill's impression of him. The imposter shrugged a little, as if embarrassed. He even blushed a bit and scratched the back of his neck.

"Well, I uh..", he stammered.

"I thought you said you couldn't be near me cause of Bill?", Pacifica asked.

"I know. I know..", Bill nodded. "But after what happened.. I.. Well I just couldn't get you out of my mind."

He gave a sheepish grin. Dipper felt like he was gonna gag or choke on his own screaming watching the scene unfold. What was worse was how Pacifica smiled and blushed from the thought.

" _Aw.._ Are.. Are you sure it's okay?", she asked.

"Well Bill hadn't bothered me at all yesterday. I figured he might've found some other victim.", he tried to sound vague. "So I kinda thought I might get away with an early-morning pop-over, if that's okay?"

"Yeah, of course!", Pacifica nodded. "I really wanted to be with you.."

"Same here..", _"Dipper"_ smiled gently.

The two hugged, seemingly innocent and in love. Bill smiled a bit more behind Pacifica at Dipper, eating up the boy's reaction.

 _'OH MY GOSH BILL CUT IT OUT! THIS IS SO WRONG! WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH PACIFICA?!'_, Dipper screeched, pulling at his hair.

"Hey, Pacifica? I don't suppose there's someplace a bit more... _private_ we can talk in, do you?", he asked when they parted in his sweet, shy, dorky facade again.

"Oh yeah, I've been wanting to show you what I've done with the room that had all those paintings!", she lead him away by the hand.

 _'NO! NO! NO! **NO!** PACIFICA NOT IN THERE!'_ , Dipper's voice went unheard as he flew after his body. _'WHAT KINDA MESSED UP NIGHTMARE IS THIS?!'_

They quickly disappeared behind the tarp and Bill looked around, a little surprised by what he found.

The room was dimly lit and paintings were being organized about the room. Tables and furniture and antiques were spread around, their tarps were pulled off. It was definitely a work in progress. Some patches of the floor were so thickly covered in dust where as others had managed to be scraped through by a broom or vacuum.

"It's kinda creepy, seeing what all my family's done over the years, but it's kinda cool at the same time.", Pacifica was explaining as she and Bipper walked more into the room.

"Mm-hmm.. Yeah, I see whatcha mean..", Bill said quietly, looking around.

He then came up to a table that had a lot of antiques scattered on it, including an old mug with several fountain and feather pens in it. While Pacifica was rambling on about a couple of other paintings she was looking at, he quickly took one of the pens and began scribbling on the wood.

 _'Whoa.. She really did put a lot of work into this..'_ , Dipper was momentarily stunned by the progress until he noticed Bill. _'Huh?'_

He floated over closer and saw that Bill had roughly scratched a triangle with a circle in its middle into the table's surface.

 _'...Narcissist.'_ , Dipper scoffed.

"Mark of the trade..", Bill murmured, smiling a little.

"What's that, Dipper?"

"This place sure is coming along great, Paz!", Bill commented and looked up, as if interested in what she was saying.

The pen was hidden behind a portrait that leaned against the opposite side of the table. Pacifica looked back and smiled a little.

"Thanks. It's kinda weird working on it all alone. But you know, I don't want anyone to find out about this."

"Yeah. _I'll bet._ ", Bill chuckled softly to himself, setting down the pen and walking over.

"But what's especially weird is finding out about all the _lies_ my family's ever been saying...and then finding out that I'm actually really glad I know the _truth_ of it all now.", Pacifica spoke softly. "..I can't stand lies anymore.. It's just.. With all this in my face? I hate it when people lie..."

"I know. I hate it too.", Bipper came over and took her hand. "But I promise.. I'd _never_ lie to you."

 ** _'BILL! KNOCK IT OFF!'_**

Pacifica smiled back up at her boyfriend's loving look. Her cheeks turned a few shades pinker as Bipper brushed back some of her hair.

"I really appreciate that.. Thanks, Dipper.."

" _Anything_ for the girl I love.", he circled an arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him.

Dipper really wanted to tear them apart, to scream in Pacifica's ear what was really going on. He wanted to pull away Bill right then and there but remembered his promise to the deal was that he wouldn't fight Bill for the body. No matter what. If he did, he'd lose Mabel.

He could only watch in agony as Bill gently leaned down and kissed Pacifica. Dipper was practically in tears and screaming hysterically, while Pacifica started to kiss back, her face flushing a deep red and her eyes closing in bliss.

Bill couldn't help but note how funny it was that he didn't care at all for affection of any nature, but Dipper's innocent and naive little body was still getting used to the idea of love. It took a lot on the demon's part not to pull back and gag at the heart-racing feeling Dipper's body was experiencing. He had too much pinned on this to ruin it now.

They pulled back and Pacifica chuckled a little, still getting used to it herself. Bill kept his smile, having to breathe deeply to keep from laughing while Dipper continued to wallow in his anguish, and leaned back to kiss again, surprising the blonde before she had a chance to open her eyes.

It's not that Pacifica didn't like affection from her boyfriend or anything, but it was weird _how much_ he was doing it, for a nerdy kinda guy. And he wasn't being quite as gentle and timid as he first was, even after she started kissing back. It seemed... _different_ to her somehow. Like he was more eager? She didn't know the right word to describe it.

Suddenly something foreign and _wet_ slipped across her lips and Pacifica's eyes opened wide as she snapped back from Dipper's mouth.

Dipper screamed so badly that if he had his physical body, his vocal cords were sure to break.

Bipper opened his eyes and looked at her surprised.

 _"What was-?!"_ , Pacifica almost gagged, not daring to think it was really his tongue she felt.

"What?", Bill asked in a low, innocent tone.

"W-w-w-were you just...?", she wiped her lips and found a trail of drool that made her skin crawl in disgust.

"Yeah, a french kiss. Is that bad?", he seemed so clueless to how this could possibly be bad.

Pacifica only had a vague understanding of what frenching was and she shuddered to think of it. She took a step back, out of Bipper's arms.

"Well...", she tried to be polite. "I-I just never really pegged you to be _that_ kinda guy."

"Well... You don't really know anything about me.", Bipper shrugged. "I could be _'that kinda guy'_."

"...I guess..", Pacifica wasn't sure exactly what to feel about this as she looked at the ground. She didn't want to disappoint her boyfriend, but something just tugged at her as "wrong" about all this.

 _'Yes! YES! Nice mistake Bill!'_, Dipper gloated. _'We're only twelve! We wouldn't do that!'_

Bill momentarily glanced at Dipper in a cold snake-like scowl before turning back to Pacifica with the same face as before.

"I-I'm sorry..", Pacifica shook her head, not wanting to ruin their moment, and looked back at him. "You came all this way.. It's just.. It just feels weird. That's all."

"Oh.", Bipper seemed blank, just listening to her.

"I just..", she was trying to find the right words. "..I was just...kinda hoping that for our relationship...it could go a little more... _slower paced?_ "

"That's...kind of the thing though, Pacifica.. I kinda _liked_ the pace things were going at.", Bipper shrugged a little, momentarily disturbing Pacifica. "Maybe you just need to get used to it."

 _'WHAT?!'_

"Huh?!", Pacifica was thrown for a loop and somewhat shocked by the idea.

"Yeah, you know, we'll do this a couple of times and you'll start to get the hang of it.", Bipper grinned a little.

"Whoa, I didn't say I _wanted_ to, to begin with!", Paz scowled a little.

First he seemed hurt, then he looked like he was trying to be clever. Now Bipper just looked disappointingly at her and it bewildered the girl. Yet somehow, it was that same judgmental disappointment that her parents would give her and it almost made her wanna take back what she said.

Bipper's hands were taken away from her as _he_ backed up now. He knew very well how to play on her emotional triggers and made it clear to her he wasn't pleased with her "performance".

"Well gee, you know, if you don't wanna be my girlfriend, all you had to do was say so.", he scoffed.

"What? _Excuse me!_ I didn't say I didn't wanna be your girlfriend!", Pacifica was a mix of feeling hurt and angry at him.

"Well _this is_ what girlfriends and boyfriends do, Paz.", Bipper shrugged and turned away some. "They kiss a lot."

"Dipper, I still want to be your girlfriend!", she reached for him by the shoulder.

Bipper turned back and looked at her curiously. But Pacifica's annoyance with him was out-weighing her hurt.

"What is _with you?_ This isn't...", she let go of him and Bipper turned more around to face her.

Slowly her eyes widened a little and her expression changed to one of suspicion as she reconsidered the boy in front of her. She hadn't slept well at all last night so it was hard for her to really think clearly, but it did stick out to her how _early_ in the morning it was and how _odd_ "Dipper" was acting. Especially when just yesterday he was uneasy about being so near to her.

"What?", Bill asked innocently.

"... _Who_ am I talking to?", she asked quietly.

Bill looked back at her as if she asked something crazy. He considered the girl, and saw the truth slowly dawning in the back of her mind. He smiled a little, wondering how far he could play this and scoffed a little and shrugged.

"Pacifica, what're you talking about? It's _me._ ", he stated.

If anything, it only made her more suspicious. Was he trying to say it was obvious that this was Dipper or was this as bad as she started to worry it was?

"Me, _who?_ ", she asked pressingly.

Slowly, Bipper's confused grin widened into a more sly smile as the demon realized his little charade was over. He raised an eyebrow and stepped a little closer to her.

"Hmm.. Well that makes _me_ kinda curious.. _Who_ do you think you were kissing in the backyard?", he asked.

The fact that he's dodging just answering flat-out and that Dipper did have a reason to push her away yesterday brought a new kind of terror to Pacifica. Her eyes widened as she gasped.

" _OH MY GOSH!_ BILL!", she pushed the demon away from her.

In split-second timing, he snatched one of her wrists in one hand and pulled her closer, making her gasp again, as they stood, pressed close against him and their faces only inches away from each other.

"Oh, don't start pushing me away _NOW_ , Pacifica.. You seemed to _really like me_ just a few minutes ago! Aha ha ha ha ha ha!", he cackled.

She felt disgusted as the understanding she was kissing him sunk to mind and she struggled to pull away from him.

" ** _EW!_** Oh my gosh! _Let me go, you freak!_ ", she struggled.

But try as the girl might, she could barely budge him and certainly couldn't make him let go of her.

 _'BILL LET HER GO!'_ , Dipper was screaming again.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! But you're missing the point!", Bill cackled. "This is too much fun!"

 _'I SAID **LET HER GO!** '_

"Hey, how about we kiss again?", Bill asked. "Like I said, _you'll get used to it!_ Ha ha ha ha ha!"

 ** _"NO!"_**

Pacifica raised her only free hand and Bill flinched, waiting for the smack in the face. But Paz hesitated, unsure of just flat-out hitting him. After all, looking at him, it was still Dipper's body. Bill noticed and then giggled a bit more.

"Aw! Don't wanna hit your precious lover-boy?", he taunted.

He let go of her and the girl almost fell over to get away from him. She scrambled backwards and then ran off, deeper into the room. Bill just shook his head and laughed.

He followed after her but was laughing so hard he sometimes had to stop and hold himself up to keep from falling over. He looked like a psycho in some twisted nightmare as Pacifica tried to keep her distance with him. His laughter rang and echoed in the large room.

"OH! OUCH! It _hurts!_ ", he cried between fits. "HA HA HA HA HA HA! Stupid human bodies! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! But you should've seen your face! You're so helpless!"

Finally he came up as Pacifica found a dead-end in the maze of portraits. She turned around and looked back at the deranged boy. He was still giggling and laughing, shaking his head at her all the while.

"What's so funny?!", she demanded to know.

 ** _"YOU!"_** , Bill struggled to control himself so he could explain. "OH MAN! you're both so _STUPID!_ "

"What?", Pacifica shook her head in confusion.

"Ah! You STILL don't get it?! You're worse than Dipper! Listen, Llama, don't you even _begin_ to understand how stupid all of this was?!", he began to list. "It's _early in the morning_. Your boyfriend is half-possessed by a maniac _demon_. He shows up on your doorstep saying 'I couldn't get you out of my _MIND_ '! As if THAT alone shouldn't have already told you who was really in the body! You lead him into a secret room that _NOBODY KNEW ABOUT!_ _I_ didn't even know about this room! It's totally out of ear shot from everyone in the house! What're you gonna do?! Call for help? Even if they _could_ hear you, I'd like to see you explain to your _psycho-parents_ that you _snuck a demon-possessed boy into your house!_ "

He slowly walked up to her and Pacifica pressed up into the corner. Her heart dropped deep into a pit in her stomach as this nightmare unfolded in front of her.

"But that's only if they _COULD hear you!_ ", Bill rolled his eyes. "We're cut off from the rest of the house! Be glad the only horrible thing I did to you WAS kiss you! As disgusting as THAT was, I _still_ could've done _so many more_ unspeakable things! I could've-! Oh you can't even begin to grasp it!"

He was much closer now. Pacifica couldn't back up anymore as he leaned in as close as he wanted.

"Even right now! I _could_ kiss you again..", he reached into his vest

In a quick movement he pulled out and pushed open the blade of a pocket knife. Pacifica yelped and shuddered as he quickly swept the flat end of it under her chin and pushed it up to force her to look back at him.

"Or I could've _killed_ you..", he said sweetly and quietly, watching as tears quickly swelled up and poured down Paz's face from the terror. "... _no one_ would've even known.. Until your corpse started to rot and stink up the whole house...which would be in about...3 days? _2?_ "

He chuckled darkly at her terrified face and leaned a bit closer with his.

"Y'know, it's kinda funny.. The one thing Pinetree and I can agree on is that for a pathetic flesh-bag of a human, you are _really_ cute.", Bill noted. "Especially when you're scared out of your mind. I'd almost find you something of value..."

Pacifica shut her eyes tightly and tried to turn away from him, but had to keep her chin up because of the blade against her throat. She wanted to think of something, anything but to acknowledge this nightmare, but nothing could come to mind. Her heart was racing and she couldn't stop crying. She wasn't sure what to expect next. Bleeding from her throat or more of Bill kissing her.

Instead, Bill hesitated, rolled his eyes with an agitated sigh and then pulled back and the knife away in a quick sweep, making Pacifica gasp in fear of it cutting her, even by accident.

"OH _RELAX,_ Pinetree!", he said in annoyance. "It's a dull knife! And a small one at that! I'm gonna have to sharpen this later for us.."

Pacifica opened her eyes and looked around, still scared.

"D-Di-Dipper's here?", she asked quietly.

"Yeah, your knight in shining armor is right there, screaming his lungs out about what I'm doing.", Bill scoffed, still smiling.

 _'WELL WHY SHOULDN'T I?! PACIFICA HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ANYTHING ABOUT THOSE JOURNALS! WHY DON'T YOU JUST LEAVE HER ALONE?!'_ , Dipper was still screaming. _'WHAT DO YOU EVEN WANT WITH HER?!'_

 _"What do you even want with me?!"_ , Pacifica asked at the same time.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Oh! Oh that was disgustingly touching! Ha ha ha ha! You two- Ha ha ha!", the demon laughed again. "Ahhh! but calm down, Pazzy. I was just wanting to make an example out of ya. See, I've been trying _all week_ to get Pinetree to realize something, but your boyfriend's denser than a pound of lead!"

 ** _'SO YOU JUST WALTZ IN HERE AND TERRORIZE MY GIRLFRIEND TO TELL ME SOMETHING?!'_** , Dipper exploded.

"Yup, that's pretty much it Pinetreee!", Bill confirmed. "But you know, while I am here, it WOULD be nice if I left off on a better note with your girlfriend.."

He pointed the pocket knife at Pacifica. She gasped and pressed up to the wall again.

 ** _'DON'T YOU DARE!'_**

"Hey, I can if I really wanted to..", he leaned on the wall and got close to her, scaring her all over again. He watched her a little bit and giggled. "Hee hee! I _would..._ But I should be getting back before everyone else wakes up at the Mystery Shack... Thanks for your time, doll face."

He quickly pecked her cheek, making her shudder, and walked away. He carefully slipped out of the room and put on his facade again. He calmly allowed himself to be escorted out of the mansion and soon was out on the sidewalk again. There, he started for the bus stop. All the while, Dipper kept screaming, trying to figure out what on earth the maniacal demon was talking about.

Bill started to become annoyed by Dipper's constant pestering. The demon shook his head and rolled his eyes.

 _'If this is about how you can do ANYTHING in my body except hurt my family, I GET THAT! I ALREADY KNEW IT!'_, Dipper was still going on.

"Pinetree.. Pinetree.. _PINETREE!_ You're STILL not getting it!", he groaned. "How _obvious_ do I have to make this?! I've been giving you nightmare after nightmare- What? _Am I too ABSTRACT for you?_ Oh my gosh! How do I- What's the _idiot-term for-?!_ A-! D-! UGH! _PULL ME OUT._ "

Bipper reached out his hand to the ghost and Dipper backed up a little.

 _'What? No! If I fight with you-'_

"You aren't fighting with me over the body! This has _nothing_ to do with our contract! Scout's honor! I swear! This doesn't have _anything_ to do with the deal. Just pull me out. _Right now._ Come on. I'm ASKING- _I am **BEGGING** you,_ Pinetree, to _TRY_ to grasp what I am telling you!", Bill did seem desperate. "If you don't realize this, the best part of _everything_ is lost on you!"

 _'No! How do I know you won't trick me and pull this back up in my face or something?!'_ , Dipper refused.

"Oh come on, kid! Don't you trust me?"

 _'NO!'_

"Do you trust yourself?"

 _'What?'_

"JUST PULL ME OUT!", Bill rolled his eyes and his hole head in exasperation. "DIPPER 'PINETREE' PINES I AM A _VERY_ PATIENT DEMON. _BUT YOU ARE **WEARING IT OUT!**_ Come ON! What do you have to lose!?"

 _'...Mabel.'_ , Dipper stated firmly, somewhat fearfully.

"She'll be _fine._ I promise. I won't throw this back in your face later and claim you were fighting with me for the body."

Dipper stared at the outstretched hand. Should he? He didn't know what on earth Bill was thinking with this. If he tried.. He might lose his safety net around the Stans and Mabel. But Bill seems so intent on Dipper doing this. He didn't trust the demon.

But Dipper wasn't fighting for the body. Bill was asking him to try. He hesitated, and then slowly reached out. His hand first passed through his body's hand, until Dipper felt something solid, more or less. Bill took a firm hold of Dipper's hand and smirked some more.

Dipper took a breath and then tugged.

Bill stood there, watching him. He blinked. Nothing was happening. He snorted and then laughed. He laughed loud and cruel.

" _WHAT WAS THAT?!_ TELL me that was NOT the best you could do, Pinetree!"

Dipper was a little embarrassed. He had no idea how hard or easy this was bound to be. He gave a harder tug. Still nothing happened. Bill didn't even budge.

 _'Wha-?! Hey!'_ , Dipper gasped and tried even harder.

Bill watched while the poor ghost struggled. Dipper yanked as hard as he could but as a ghost, he had no foot hold, and did a flip in the air with a quick yelp of surprise.

 _'Wh-?! H-how come I can't...?!'_ , Dipper stared at their hands.

He thought he understood. Bill always just waltzed in and shoved him out with no trouble. He yanked him out the very first time. It should've been easy! Dipper even tried to get a grab on the demon around the shoulders or by the head. Nothing worked, no matter how hard he struggled.

 _'WHY CAN'T I-?!'_

"DON'T YOU GET IT _YET_ KID?!"

The message sunk in loud and clear now as Dipper backed up from the demon. No matter how much Dipper struggled. No matter what he did. His safety net of fighting with Bill for the body was now gone. Pacifica couldn't even slap him in the face either, his family wouldn't want to stop Bill in fear of hurting Dipper. The whole thing was a set up so that ultimately, Bill had the body and could keep the body _whenever_ he wanted for _however long_ he wanted it and do _whatever he wanted with it._

 _'B-b-but... But you..! You pull me out like, ALL the time! You do it without any trouble!'_ , Dipper shook his head in denial.

"Dipper... Dipper _Dipper **Dipper**_..", Bill said sympathetically with a calmer smile. "Do you know how hard it is to pull a living entity out of the vessel of their choice when they're unwilling? **_I_** have trouble with it! That's _why_ I trick people into _making a deal!_ Then you HAVE to let me have it!"

The bus had come up and Bill got on backwards, keeping up his conversation. Dipper weakly followed after him.

"Do you SEE the beauty of your stupidity yet?!", he asked. "Or are you _blind_ _to reality?_ "

The demon sat back in a seat and Dipper had to accept that this wasn't a nightmare. This wasn't just Bill messing with him. Dipper stared straight back at the awaiting demon, almost afraid to speak at this point.

 _'Everyone's in danger... And it's all my fault...'_, he breathed quietly.

"It's _ALL_ your fault...", Bill grinned widely again, showing all his teeth. "This is a nightmare come true, Pinetree! The only thing that's stopping _me_ from killing your family is _ME_..."

Dipper swallowed hard.

 _'...th-then why haven't you?'_ , he asked. _'Wouldn't...wouldn't that be easier? H-help you get the Journals?'_

"Oh, I've got plans, Pinetree.. Plans you couldn't possibly _dream_ of.", Bill chuckled at his own joke. "Which is why I'm gonna let you have the body back for now."

 _'Wait, what?'_ , Dipper was a little surprised.

"Yup! I've done all the damage I want to here. You hurry along back to your little family. I'll be back to be human later."

Bill floated out of the body and disappeared. Dipper hesitated but then came back into the body. He cracked open his eyes and looked around. He then curled up tightly in the seat, feeling his heart pound with the fear he felt. His mind began racing as cold sweat poured over the boy's body.

He was a huge threat to his own family now. Any time Mabel or his family would come close, or had been close, Bill could've hurt them. Every nightmare scenario became a scary reality in Dipper's mind. Especially with how well Bill passed off as him.

But Bill didn't have to kill them. He had plans. But for what? How much did Bill really need Dipper's body all this time?

Should he try to run away? Bill could probably easily find his way back to the shack. Is there really anything Dipper could do to stop him?

 _'...No...'_ , he thought dismally in his mind.

Dipper had only been backing away from his family because he didn't want them to worry about him. He had thought that he as gonna be stuck with Bill like some annoying roommate, so he was trying to cope with it and learn to live with a demon following him around.

Now he was carrying the most dangerous threat he was trying to keep Mabel from. Bill really could do anything he wanted and didn't have to give up the body. And Dipper had no idea what he was gonna do about it.

* * *

 _Laura: Hey, you want Bill? You've got Bill. He's gonna disappear again, but not for too long this time. Told ya in the summary this story would have a little Bipifica. Lol. X3 Small credit goes to finnrakh-tybay on tumblr. Terrific art! Did a little D/Bipifica bit that I just couldn't stop thinking about. XD_

 _Amber: Frick this is gettin' intense man. xDD_

 _Laura: Yes it is.. =3_


	10. Chapter 10

The bus ride back to the Mystery Shack was chillingly quiet. The sun was up by now. Dipper's stomach was starting to ache.

He walked up to the shack with another heaving sigh and walked in. The moment the door closed though, he heard hurrying footsteps. Soon all three Pines Family members came running in to see him.

" _Dipper!_ Oh my gosh!", Mabel gasped.

" _Kid where've ya been?!_ "

"Dipper, what happened?! _Where were you?!_ "

Before Dipper had time to respond or even blink, Mabel came hurrying with arms outstretched for a hug.

Images of Bipper choking Mabel or clawing her eyes out flashed through Dipper's mind. The boy quickly stepped back with his hands raised in defense.

" _Aa_ -ah!", he yelped a little.

Mabel stopped, scared of her brother backing away from her.

"Dipper?", she asked quietly.

Again, he couldn't bring himself to let them worry about him. He tried to smile and shrug it off. But he was pale with heavy bags under his blood-shot eyes. His hair was a mess. His face was stained with tears and his cheeks and nose were red.

"S-Sorry..", he quietly apologized.

 _"Dipper, where were you?!"_ , Ford and Lee asked at the same time.

"Nowhere!", he quickly lied. "I-I-I was walking through the woods!"

"Kid, you're a terrible liar.", Stanford frowned a bit more.

"Dipper, I just came back in from running _all over_ the woods for the past hour.", Stanley became more worried looking.

Dipper then noticed that Stanley wasn't wearing his coat and his arms were scratched up from brush. He felt his heart wrench tightly at the thought of his grandfather racing out with little to no thought of having everything together to keep himself safe, scared of what's happened to him.

"Dipper, where did you go? Did Bill possess you or something?", Mabel asked.

"I'm fine, okay?", Dipper sighed a little, accidentally coming across as annoyed.

"Well where did you go?!", Stanford pressed.

"Nowhere!"

He couldn't bring himself to tell them what had happened. For one, it's embarrassing what all Bill did to Pacifica. For another, he just wanted to get away from them before Bill came back. He never said WHEN he was coming back and being this close to loved ones was starting to really hurt Dipper's heart and he cringed from the pain.

"Dipper, just tell us what happened!", Mabel pleaded.

"Come on, Kid, fess up!", Stanford pressed.

"Dipper, you can talk to us!", all three started to move closer to Dipper, trying to be reassuring.

" _NO! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!_ ", Dipper exploded, holding himself closely and backing away from everyone. " _JUST LEAVE ME ALONE OKAY?!_ "

Mabel felt Dipper's words pierce her heart but before she could react, he tore off past them, through the house.

"Wait, wait! Dipper!", Stanley started to follow after him.

"Hold up."

Stanford stopped his brother with a hand on his shoulder. Lee looked back, shocked his brother would try to stop him, but Ford just calmly shook his head.

"He's not gonna talk to us..", he tried to get a grasp on his own worries and fears. "Maybe... Maybe we should let him be for a little while."

"Stan, that's when he feels the _worst._ ", Lee whined a little.

"I know. But I always get aggressive when I'm freaked and you've still got new-parent syndrome. Smothering him with affection at this point will drive him away just as badly as my harsh attitude..", Stanford sighed some.

Sadly, no one moved. Dipper tore off through the house and found himself down in the lab again. It was cold and dimly lit in there. He had slowed to a walk as he came in and looked around. A small draft blew by.

 _'Well this is fitting..'_ , he thought miserably to himself.

He came up to where the portal was and looked up at the large, destroyed contraption. A part of him wished he could go in there and be suspended like Stanley. But he knew it wouldn't help anything.

Dipper's legs trembled and he sat down in the dirt. Something crackled underfoot. He looked down and pulled up a picture of him and Mabel. Tears swelled up in his eyes and he curled up tightly there on the floor, grasping the picture close to him. The thought of losing her made him cry.

Growing up, Dipper hadn't thought much of it, having a twin sister and what that really meant to him. She had her life and he had his. They didn't even have to share a room since they were 8.

First coming to Gravity Falls, one thing that nagged Dipper was that whatever happened on this stay at their grunkle's, he'd have to tell his parents about it when he came back. At the time, a small part of him was worried of anything happening to Mabel and he'd have to tell about it when they got back. Especially when she went into town or talked to strangers that weren't their age. And nothing helped when he suspected her first boyfriend to be a zombie and found out they were actually gnomes who could still do some serious damage.

Over the course of every supernatural adventure they've been on though, Dipper's worry only grew more with his paranoia. Sure he learned how to deal with things like ghosts and zombies and gnomes. But it was still a small nag in the back of his mind of something happening to his sister. And it became a scream whenever she was in any danger.

Now he was the sole vessel of the greatest danger and if Mabel died, if anything happened to her, if Bill's plans came into effect and then she was rendered useless to him, what would happen? Dipper would live through the rest of his life without his sister.

After getting to know Stanley, and especially Stanford's true nature, it really touched on Dipper how much his sibling meant to him. 30 years without having a sibling to celebrate holidays or birthdays. Ford went through all of adulthood without Stanley. Stanley didn't even have the chance to raise his own kid, Dipper's father. Stanford had to stage Lee's death and go to the funeral and every day, every penny he pinched, every last little thing he ever worked for and wondered could he actually get his brother back? And all the way up to how terrified he sounded when Dipper was about to press the button and shut it all down.

Destroy 30 _long_ years of hard lonesome work. 30 years of suffering through his own depression and wrestling with himself whether or not he could pull this off. 30 years of having to lie and cheat and steal to get his brother back.

Dipper couldn't possibly imagine living through that kind of pain if it was Mabel and even then, Ford did have a chance of getting Lee back. If Mabel was just gone, it'd be forever. It'd be permanent. Dipper had no idea what would happen after one would die and how being a ghost exactly worked. He had no guarantee of her coming back as a ghost and even then, she can't really be with him. He wouldn't be able to tell his parents about it either. It would seem impossible to grasp the concept himself.

And it could all actually happen.

 _Because of him._

He thought back through the mental layout of the entire house and suddenly everything he could look back at and remember seemed like an easy way to just reach out and take the life of another's with it. Or even severely hurt them. Even just imagining Mabel torn up, bloody, and bruised like he's been made the boy shiver and sob some more.

The world was suddenly a very scary place and Dipper could do nothing more than lay there and cry his heart out. There was nothing he could do to stop Bill from doing anything he wanted. Depression swept over the boy in one cold wave after another and he was pushed back and forth, caught in its madness.

He didn't know if he was thinking about how much he messed up, or if he was remembering every time he fought with Mabel with a horrible gut-wrenching feeling of regret. Somewhere along the lines he knew he was imagining horrible scenarios of his sister's untimely death and all the fingers pointing to him. He would be left with the blame ultimately.

 _'It's my fault. It's all my fault. It's all my fault..'_ , he chanted dismally in his mind.

Dipper's stomach churned with the growing stress. He moaned and sobbed and rolled over on the dirt floor. Cold sweat poured down his face and mingled with his tears as he tried to cope with the pain.

 _'What can I do? There's gotta be some way out of this. Any way out of this.. I can't let him get Mabel.. I can't let him hurt her..'_

He thought back over the course of the week and all the times Mabel had tried to cheer him up. He thought of how Lee and Ford had done their best to make sure he was okay and he regretted pushing them away then. Just like he did now. And now he'll always push them away because he didn't want anyone to get hurt.

 _"And it's all your fault..."_ , Bill's voice rang back in his memories. _'It's all my fault..'_

With the stomach ache, Dipper was afraid he was going to throw up. After a little longer of the pain and anguish, he did. He didn't have breakfast, so all he really lost was some stomach acid, but the pain of feeling his stomach muscles push so hard made the boy cry in pain.

Dipper backed away from the acid and propped himself up against one of the walls of the small lab. He pushed back his hair and curled up again, left with a chilling, cold feeling.

Somewhere in the middle of feeling absolutely miserable, Dipper thought back to his deal with Bill. It was all so pointless. Bill played him. The whole way through. How much he must've wanted to laugh at Dipper's choice. At hearing him boast for "thinking it all the way through".

He remembered Mabel's horrified expression, as if he was the monster he felt like he was now.

 _"What's to stop him from attacking us while he has your body?"_ , Stanley had asked.

 _"...Well then he'd be breaking the deal.. And if he breaks the deal..."_ , Dipper's eyes widened as his words echoed back to him. _"...Someone has to break the body."_

He swallowed hard. The thought settling into his mind. Death? But it was true.. If the body was "broken", Bill couldn't use it. It's what kept him from breaking bones.

Dipper knew his family wouldn't kill him. A chilling thought came to mind. But it seemed like the only solution.

 **Suicide.  
**

He didn't know when Bill would be back for the body. He just knew Bill would want to come back for it and took the time to warn Dipper. Bill had plans for his family. Plans that could invariably hurt them.

But his access through Dipper. His plans. Everything. Would all be destroyed in one act.

Bill wouldn't have a body to possess. He couldn't hurt Mabel. He couldn't finish his plans.

Dipper thought it over for a long time. If this was something he was gonna do, it would have to be planned carefully. He knew his family would try to stop him. He knew he wouldn't be able to do it at all if he started thinking about how much he would miss them. How much they would be hurt for him. But if he did...would he actually be doing the right thing for once? It didn't seem like there was any other option.

In other parts of the house, Stanley was pacing back and forth quickly. Stanford and Mabel sat by, sadly watching him.

"What are we gonna do, Stan? What _can_ we do?", Lee asked worriedly as he has done for the past 2 hours. "What are we gonna do for Dipper? _This could get serious!_ "

"Stan, there's nothing we can do.", Ford repeated sadly. "I know you're worried. We all are. We wake up and Dipper's _missing?_ He comes back and doesn't say where he's been or _why?_ But trying to press on him now is only gonna make things worse. Whatever Bill did to him, it obviously really scared the kid."

"But we.."

"I know."

"I-I.."

"Yeah.. But this is different."

 _"DIFFERENT HOW?!"_ , Stanley turned and slammed his hands on the table. He looked frantic and scared. Stanford sighed, looking back at his brother. "That maniac triangle is gonna pull something and if Dipper doesn't realize how much we need him..! How much he needs us..! Stanford, I lost a _large_ part of my life. _Half_ of it to be exact. I was stupid and desperate. I don't even really know my family anymore! I don't know what my son's like _at all!_ I wasn't there to raise him! You lived a whole life, so many adventures, so much to tell, and I wasn't anywhere! I'm back and I'm finally rebuilding my bond with you. On top of that, I'm learning _how much I love my grandchildren_ and how much I want them to _love me back_. I don't want to lose family again, Ford. I lost them once, _not again!_ I haven't known Dipper for very long but I don't wanna lose him as much as I wouldn't _wanna lose YOU!_ "

Ford couldn't help but notice exactly how extreme the situation really was. In most cases, Stanley really was the calmer, logical one and Ford was ranting like this. It wasn't until situations were very personal and extreme that the tables would flip and Ford did his best to reassure his brother.

"Stanley.. You need to _calm down.._ ", Ford instructed quietly.

Stanley noticed the way they acted as well and took a deep breath. He took a couple and pulled up a chair with his foot to sit down with them. He buried his face in his hands, trying hard to get a grip.

"...We're not gonna get anywhere if we're all running around frantic.", Stanford reminded him.

"...You're right..", Stanley nodded.

"What I'm concerned about... _is Mabel._ ", Stanford looked over.

Mabel didn't even hear her name. She was staring out the window, lost in her own thoughts. The way Dipper shoved her away. The way he looked so terrified and angry. She couldn't get the memory of their fighting out of her head.

She had no idea what happened to him but all she could guess was that Dipper was feeling worse and worse from whatever Bill had done to him. She wanted to think of some way to make him feel better, but Stanford had stopped Stanley from doing that. Mabel didn't want to leave Dipper all alone, but she certainly didn't want to make him push her away any more than he did now. Tears slipped down her cheek as she continued in these thoughts.

Finally, she noticed the tissue being offered and blinked a little. She looked up at Stanley and Stanford's worried faces and then took the tissue from her grandfather and glanced back down at the floor again.

"Thanks..", she said in a quiet voice.

"Need anything?", Lee asked.

Mabel shrugged and blew her nose. She couldn't think of anything. Stanford opened an arm and Mabel considered it. After she finished blowing her nose she took the invitation and crawled into her grunkle's lap. He hugged her close and Mabel clung to his suit.

"...Wanna talk about it, Mabel?", he asked gently.

"...What can I do to help Dipper when he's like this?", Mabel asked timidly, her voice cracking a little bit, making her realize the pain swelling in her throat.

"We'll figure something out, Sweetie.", Grunkle Stan tried to reassure her.

"But Dipper..."

Suddenly they heard a metallic clang, indicating the vending machine was closed. Everyone froze for a moment thinking of Dipper coming out now.

"...Alright we shouldn't g-", Stanford started to say but Mabel was already pushing out of his lap and raced out the door. "No no no, Mabel! _Wait!_ "

Mabel raced for the stairs but stopped half way in the living room, seeing Dipper already at the bottom of them. The two looked at each other for a moment. Mabel was worried. Dipper was scared.

"...Dipper, don't push me away, please!", Mabel tried to beg.

"M-Mabel...", Dipper almost wanted to step away from her. "Just.."

She took a step closer and Dipper flinched and backed up.

 _"No!"_ , he gasped.

Mabel froze and the two kept their stare in silence again.

"...M-M-Mabel, just.. R-r-right _there_... Okay?", Dipper almost begged.

Mabel slowly nodded, a little happy to know he wasn't just running away from him. Stanley and Stanford carefully came up as well, a little unsure of how Dipper would react.

"...Kid...", Stanford sighed a little and tried again, trying to be gentle. "... _Dipper_... We just wanna know."

Dipper swallowed, already knowing what the question was gonna be.

"...What happened this morning?"

Dipper already had an idea of how to answer this. He took a bit of a breath and forced himself not to think of Pacifica as he closed his eyes and made up his reply.

"...Bill had woken up my body...a-a-and..took my body around town..", he answered slowly, his voice was hoarse from crying so much. "...It.. It really put me on edge. ... _I'm sorry for yelling at you guys.._ "

To Stanford, a master of weaving quick lies, he knew this one was no different. But he didn't press. Instead he took a breath and nodded.

"It's okay, Dipper..", he said. "...We're just concerned about you is all.."

"...Thanks..", Dipper mumbled quietly, keeping his eyes to the floor.

"...Um... Do you wanna...talk? Or..anything?", Stanley offered awkwardly.

"Uh...", Dipper looked back at them. He actually really wanted to be with them, but refrained and instead shook his head a little. "A-Actually.. I'm uh.. I'm still pretty tired... I'm uh.. I'm gonna go back to bed for a little bit.."

"Okay..", Stanley sighed a little.

"We'll be sure to have breakfast ready for you, okay?", Stanford tried to smile.

Even the smallest offer of concern made Dipper's heart become tight with pain. He grimaced a little, but turned it into a smile.

"..Thanks..", he tried.

The others nodded and Dipper walked upstairs.

Mabel trailed behind him, but clung to the railing and waited at the bottom step, feeling a little more than helpless.

"...He might come around..", Stanford tried to be optimistic.

 _"Really?"_ , Stanley asked flatly.

"...I'll be honest. I have no clue.", Stan shrugged.

The family sighed in unison.

"...You gonna be okay Mabel?", Lee asked.

"...Maybe..", Mabel shrugged.

Up in his bedroom, Dipper looked around. He thought it over, snapped his fingers, and then dug out something from his suitcase. A spiral notebook. The boy sighed, took a pen from his desk, flopped back onto his bed and rolled over onto his stomach. He flipped its pages around. A few scribbles and half-finished letters to his parents were in there. He ripped out the pages and started anew.

Dipper stared at the blank notebook for a long time and then heaved a sigh.

 _'...Do it.'_ , he ordered himself. _'If you keep staring, you can't get it through.'_

Slowly, Dipper began to write in his best penmanship.

"Dear Grunkle Stan..."

Dipper wrote out his letters, one for each family member and his friends. He had to stop several times to back up and cry a little more.

Mabel came up with some breakfast for him while he was writing. Dipper had flipped to a different part of the notebook before she came in.

"Hey..", she said quietly. "...Have some breakfast for ya."

"Mm... Thanks Mabel..", Dipper mumbled.

"...Get any sleep?", she asked.

"...Not really.", he sighed.

Mabel came over to set the plate on the end table. She looked at what Dipper was writing.

"...Bill Cipher?", she asked, seeing the doodles of him.

"...Yeah.. I don't know if he'll uh... If he'll try to destroy it or something.. But I wanted to help Stanley with his research, y'know?"

Mabel smiled a little.

"Sounds good.", she nodded.

Dipper looked up and smiled back some. He shrugged a little and sat up.

"A lot of it actually is, uh.. Is actually kinda just observing what it's like in the mind-scape..", he explained.

Mabel smiled some more, happy to hear something a bit more normal coming from her brother.

"Okay. That's kinda cool.", she encouraged. "Um... Are you gonna eat?"

"Yeah. I uh.. I should.", Dipper nodded.

"Scrambled eggs, just the way you like them.", Mabel offered the plate.

Dipper took the plate with a quiet "thank you" and began to eat.

"...Are you feeling any better?", Mabel asked.

In honesty, Dipper couldn't tell if he was touched by Mabel's striving to cheer him up, like he typically would, or felt worse because he knew this was gonna be a last day with her.

"...A-a little I guess.", Dipper shrugged. "...Still don't really wanna come down.."

"Okay.", Mabel nodded.

They sat there in an awkward silence for a while. Both wanted to ask and say so much, but neither one of them really wanted to upset the other. Mabel shrugged some.

"...I guess I'll head back down.", she said.

"Oh..", Dipper felt his heart sink a little and tried to tell himself it was for the better. "Um.. Kay.. Thanks for breakfast."

"Yeah."

Mabel quickly hugged Dipper tightly and then headed out. However badly Dipper was feeling, he suddenly felt worse. He didn't want to hurt her. He didn't want to hurt her emotionally either.

 _'At least Bill didn't come back. At least he did NOT come back..'_ , Dipper sighed again. _'He's not here.. He didn't kill her...yet..'_

His stomach lurched again and Dipper tried to shove the thought aside and turned back to his letters. He had to finish.

All day Dipper worked in his bedroom without any surprise visits from Bill yet. Come nightfall, after dinner, he and Mabel got ready for bed and turned out the lights. Rain poured outside and thunder rumbled in the distance.

Mabel fell asleep in a little bit of time. Dipper stayed awake. He kept an eye on the clock till it was well after midnight and then crept out of bed. He had to do it now. He shook from head to toe as he got ready, gathered the letters together and carefully spread them out on the bed.

Dipper came over to Mabel's sleeping body.

 _'Dipper... You can't let this stop you from doing it..'_ , he told himself.

Gently Dipper leaned down and kissed the top of her head.

 _'As much as you don't want to leave her.. You know it's going to break her heart... But you've gotta do this..',_ he kept saying, standing back up and brushing her hair aside a little. _'I've gotta do this for her.. For everyone.. I love them.'_

He felt tears come to his eyes.

 _'I love you, Mabel...'_ , he thought. _'...And I don't want to do this..'_

Lightning flashed enough to illuminate the room and Dipper saw the shadow of the triangle-shape window above their beds fall over Mabel's body. Dipper snapped his hand away with a gasp, thinking of Bill.

Thunder rolled loudly and Dipper quickly backed up and tried to calm back down before hurrying to the door.

Mabel moaned a little, hearing the thunderclap.

"Dipper..?", Mabel cracked her eyes open in time to see a blurry brother disappear behind the door.

Mabel closed her eyes again and sighed. The bed felt so cozy that night. But...who was that? Oh yeah.. Dipper.

 _'He must be using the bathroom...'_ , she thought lazily to herself.

 _'But.. Dipper hasn't really been in the best of spirits?'_ , Mabel argued with herself tiredly.

 _'Do I really need to go after him? If he's just using the bathroom..'_

 _'What if this isn't Dipper though? Like this morning? Or... Yesterday?'_

Mabel groaned a little but the thought of Bipper sneaking out was enough to make her throw off the blankets. She curled up tightly as the cold air washed over her and she groaned a bit more and finally forced herself up out of bed and to the stairs.

Silently going down creaky stairs in the middle of the night was not an easy feat. It's why by the time Mabel reached the top of them, Dipper had just reached the bottom and was making his way through the house.

 _'...If he's just using the bathroom..'_ , she sighed a little to herself, feeling kind of silly to be this worried about her brother.

She knew she had good reason, but she didn't want act obsessive.

She accidentally landed a little heavier on a step than she should've and it was just enough to let out a soft creak.

Dipper gasped and quickly whipped around. Mabel froze, hoping the shadows were hiding her well enough.

Dipper looked like a scared rabbit, eyes wide as he stood straight up and still. He nervously glanced around. He looked one way, whipped his head in its direction, and then turned it back to the stairs. He was looking right. _At. **HER.**_ But it was so dark in the house, he couldn't quite see her.

Dipper stood a few seconds longer and then shut his eyes and gently shook his head.

 _"Dipper.."_ , he said softly. _"..just go."_

He hurried off again.

Mabel watched with wide eyes, all feelings of drowsy sleepiness gone as worry struck the poor girl.

 _'...He could just be afraid of waking someone up..'_ , she tried to remain optimistic, though she noticed her heart starting to pick up its pace.

She came down the stairs, much more carefully this time, and followed him through the living room.

 _'He could just not want to wake anyone up and use the bathroom..'_ , she tried to reassure herself.

Dipper looked both ways down the hallway. Left was the bathroom and the Stan Twins' bedrooms. Right was the rest of the house. He went right.

 _'...Using the bathroom..outside?'_ , Mabel swallowed hard and followed.

Dipper didn't have to go far. He reached the doorway, paused, took in a breath, and went in.

 _'WHY IS HE GOING INTO THE KITCHEN?'_ , Mabel's worry started to get the better of her.

Dipper turned on a light. He cringed, his eyes shut tight until he got used to the light. Mabel also got used to it and peeked in around the corner.

 _'Midnight snack maybe? ...PLEASE?'_ , she almost begged in her mind as she watched.

Dipper came to the kitchen table. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a letter he wrote specially to explain why he had to do this and how sorry he was for it. Just in case one of the Stans or Mabel came downstairs and didn't see his notes on his bed. He sat it on the table and then went to the drawers.

 _'I gotta do this..'_ , he thought to himself and opened a drawer with all the kitchen utensils.

 ** _'What is he DOING?'_** , Mabel was on the verge of freaking out.

 _'No matter how scary or hard this may be. I gotta do this..'_ , he told himself again. _'I gotta keep Mabel safe.'_

Dipper pulled out a paring knife. It was small and easy to handle. But on close inspection, the blade was dull. Dipper sighed. He didn't want to make a huge mess. His stomach was rolling in stress, his hands trembled, his heart was pounding loudly in his ears.

Dipper pulled out a steak knife and then grimaced, seeing it was serrated. Wouldn't really do the job right.

Mabel swallowed hard and began to shake a little herself, watching him, as her eyes widened.

 _'...Maybe he's cutting up some deli for a sandwich?'_

Even she could admit it started sounding far-fetched, but she had a hard time accepting what was really in the back of her mind from this.

Dipper sighed and put the knife away. He paused. His stomachache made him break into sweat. Dipper clutched the counter as another painful wave of nausea surged through the boy's body. He doubled over with a gasp, almost like a sudden jerk. He could feel himself wanting to throw up, but couldn't quite come to it. Dipper's breathing was shallow and shaky and he tried to get a grasp on himself.

 _'Do it, Dipper. Just do it. Do what you've gotta do!'_ , Dipper insisted.

He seized the largest kitchen knife. The same one that Bill had first used on his body. Mabel drew in a shaky breath as she watched Dipper shakily raise the knife. He pressed it against his neck...

 ** _"DIPPER DON'T!"_** , Mabel shrieked, bursting into the room now.

Dipper flinched, the knife instinctively being held a few inches away from his neck. But in a quick second, he turned to Mabel and quickly held it back to his throat again with an outstretched hand.

 _"D-don't stop me!"_ , he squeaked, backing away from her.

"Dipper!", Mabel was already up in tears and she sobbed a little watching him as all the horror of this came crashing into her reality. "Oh my gosh, Dipper, _please don't!_ "

"M-Mabel I-I _have_ to!", Dipper's voice was cracking and trembling worse than his hand.

" ** _NO!_** NO _YOU DON'T!_ ", Mabel shook her head, blinking several times to try to rid the tears that kept blurring her vision of Dipper. "Dipper, _please!_ **_PLEASE!_** Think about what you're doing! _Don't do this!_ "

 ** _"What can I do?!"_** , Dipper pleaded desperately, tears swelling up and pouring out of his eyes now, too. "Mabel you don't understand!"

"Dipper I know it's really scary for you right now but _I love you! You're my brother! DON'T DO THIS! **PLEASE!**_ ", Mabel sobbed.

 ** _"MABEL I CAN'T STOP HIM!"_** , Dipper shouted. "NO MATTER HOW HARD I TRY. _NO MATTER WHAT I DO! **I CAN'T PROTECT YOU!** "_

Mabel shook her head, she couldn't speak. Tears kept pouring and her sobs made it almost impossible to breathe. She quickly came forward and grabbed his outstretched hand. She clung to it and cried into his arm like it was her only lifeline.

"No! _No Mabel!_ Don't do this!", Dipper begged, watching her, sobbing himself. "Mabel I've _GOTTA_ do this! If I don't... He's trying to use you! _All of you!_ He's gonna use all of us! He's got some horrible plan and if I don't do this you're gonna get hurt-!"

 _ **"DIPPER YOU'RE HURTING ME RIGHT NOW AND I CAN'T STAND IT!"**_ , Mabel screamed.

Dipper shut his eyes tight. Nausea was threatening to partake in all of this, his whole body was shaking, making him hold the knife a little bit away. Tears were pouring, his heart was racing. He was terrified out of his mind. His sister's constant sobbing almost made it impossible at this point. It was exactly what he wanted to avoid, but he couldn't go back now.

"Mabel..", Dipper's voice suddenly dropped to barely above a whisper. Mabel tried in vain to dry her eyes and look back as Dipper mirrored and stared straight at her with wide, scared eyes full of tears. _"...I'm sorry.."_

He quickly brought the knife against his throat again and Mabel lunged forward to cling to him. She began sobbing very hard into his shoulder in all fear. She was almost in hysterics. Dipper struggled. He literally felt like his arm was being pushed and pulled on at the same time as he was torn between doing what he thought was right and doing what Mabel thought was right.

 _"DIPPER PLEASE **DON'T!** "_, Mabel begged. "DON'T DO THIS! DON'T... _leave me alone...!_ "

He came close, and then finally with all the effort he had, he snapped his arm away from them and dropped the knife. He gasped and it clattered uselessly on the floor. Mabel shuddered at its sound.

He stood there for a moment, panting heavily from the adrenaline before weakly reaching up and encircling his sister in a timid hug. It quickly grew into a very tight hug, as he also clung to her like a lifeline.

Ford and Lee finally made it into the room, wide-eyed and panicked.

"What's going on? Kids?!", both were talking over top of each other.

They saw the other two slide down to the floor, too weak to stand any longer. Dipper and Mabel bawled into each other's shoulders as the events washed over them.

"I'm sorry Mabel..! I-I-!", Dipper stammered.

"Dipper.. D-Dipper! Dipper promise me..!", Mabel swallowed and held her brother so they could look at each other in the eye.

He looked back and saw all her nightmares and tears as she struggled to make this clear.

" _Y-You won't d-do this again.._ P-promise me Dipper!", She begged.

Dipper nodded meekly, still hiccuping a little.

 _"Promise?"_ , Mabel pressed.

"I-I _promise.._ ", Dipper nodded.

"Okay..", Mabel whispered with a nod. She swallowed hard and pulled him as close as she possibly could, cementing it in her mind he was still there. "...I-It's okay.. Every-ev-everything is gonna-gonna be o-okay.. I promise."

The other two saw the letter on the table, glanced at each other and quickly came in and hugged the children, both asking as fast as possible what had happened.

Stanford was the first to notice the knife and elbowed his brother to make him see it as well. Stanley looked at the blade and then gasped and covered his mouth in horror to refrain from swearing again.

 ** _"Kids, what the hell happened?!"_** , Ford asked, more panicked than before.

"I'm sorry!", Dipper sobbed, his voice cracked especially bad at the end.

" _No!_ No no no, Dipper it'll be okay!", Mabel continued, rocking back and forth with him now. "It's okay! _You're here!_ You're here and it's all going to be _okay!_ "

The older set of twins looked at each other in fear and then back at the knife. Carefully, Stanley reached out and placed it in the sink, away from them, before the two began to coddle and care for the younger twins.

"Dipper.. _Dipper?_ Dipper, please.. You gotta tell me..", Stanley begged, his voice trembling the slightest.

Dipper hiccuped and looked up at his grandfather's worried face.

"...Was this _Bill?_ ", he asked quietly.

Dipper stared a moment, then started to tremble as a new wave of tears flooded and poured down. He shut his eyes tightly and buried his face into his grandfather, slightly shaking his head as a squeaky whimper escaped him, making chills run down Lee and Ford's spines.

The family only hugged tighter and stayed like that until finally there was not a tear left to be shed. The hiccuping died down and even then, a cold, dismal note of horror weighed on all of them.

After a long pause, Stanford finally cleared his throat a little.

"...are...are you..?", he looked down at the younger twins.

Dipper and Mabel looked up at Grunkle Stan, then at each other. Dipper nodded a little and wiped his nose. Mabel did the same and dried her eyes.

"Okay..", Stanford sighed some in relief. "...Um.. How.. H-How about some orange juice? Y'know... Something to settle on our stomachs?"

Again, a nod. After a last squeeze, Ford let go of the two and stood up. Slowly they let go of each other and everyone moved about the kitchen. Dipper and Mabel sat down at the table and Stanley got the cups. Ford pulled out the juice and soon all four were around the table with a drink in hand.

Stanley had taken to reading Dipper's left-over suicide note and the boy fidgeted nervously while the author looked over it. Finally Lee sighed, lowered the paper. He looked away, somewhat distressed and then handed it over to his brother.

Ford grimaced but reluctantly took the letter.

"Oh boy..", he braced himself.

After finishing reading it, everyone sat in silence for what felt like a very long time. Finally Mabel cleared her throat a little, finding it very sore from crying and screaming and croaked out the question everyone was thinking.

"...Are you gonna tell us what happened?", she said quietly.

Dipper sighed heavily and stared at his glass of juice. He didn't know how to start.

"...Whatever happened, it'll be alright.", Stanley gently reassured him.

"We're here for you, Dipper.. You know that, right?", Ford urged.

Dipper nodded and then rubbed the back of his neck.

"...It was kinda embarrassing... It was...mostly terrifying..", he began, his voice cracking as well.

"Can it be _worse_ than what happened _tonight?_ ", Stanley asked.

Dipper shook his head and then finally told them. He told them everything. Waking up. The music. The room. What Bill did with Pacifica. How Dipper couldn't pull him out of the body. The bus ride back. The thoughts of suicide in the lab. The letters. He had to stop to cry a little more now and again, once having to hold his stomach as the stress still worked its way through him like a horrible venom, which made Mabel carefully hug him from the side and shush him lovingly.

When he was finally all done, all four twins sat in silence a moment and then sighed simultaneously, for their own reasons.

"...why didn't you tell us before?", Ford asked.

"...I didn't want you to worry about me.."

"...We're family, Dipper. We _want_ to look out for you.", Stanley gently reassure him.

"...I know..", Dipper nodded.

"...We'll always be here for you.", Mabel hugged his arm again.

"Believe it or not, kid. We actually love you... _All of us._ ", Stanford nodded.

Dipper let those words sink in, shutting his eyes tightly. His mind momentarily jumped to times the others had looked out for him and he teared up a little more as he clenched his fists tightly, trying not to cry again.

"...I know...", his voice crackled again. "And... I love you guys too... I'm.. I-I'm sorry.."

The others came around and hugged him once more while Dipper cried a little bit more.

"I didn't want him to hurt you!", he choked.

"He won't..", Ford reassured him soothingly. "He can't.."

" _Yes..._ He _can.._ ", Dipper sighed. "...easily."

"Well okay, he can hurt us physically.", Stanley had to give credit to that one.

" **Not. Helping.** ", Stanford growled a little.

"Sorry.. Kid's got a point. I see why he's been such a wreck..", Stanley whined a little with sympathy. "I know you can wrestle manitaurs, Stanford, but...come on.."

"Yeah, but is this gonna help Dipper through what he's going through right now?", Ford pressed.

"No.", Stanley admitted openly. "But understanding that we love him no matter what and that he could and should always come talk to any one of us about anything that's hurting him. That's what would help him. And that's not a lecture, I swear. I'm really, _REALLY_ sorry you kids have to go through this.. There's no level that horrible demon wouldn't stoop to.. You're only _TWELVE_ , you shouldn't be dealing with this kind of stress, let alone _suicidal thoughts_.. I'm sorry..."

"Why are you sorry?", Mabel asked.

"...I guess I don't really have a reason..", Stanley shrugged sadly. "..I'm just sorry you have to go through this."

"...but...w...we can get through this..together...right?", Dipper asked, sniffling a little.

Stanley looked back at Dipper lovingly and gently brushed the boy's hair back with a soft smile. Happy to know some of this was getting through to him.

"...Of course.", he reassured with a nod. "...No matter what the demon dishes out.. We can get through this together.."

Dipper nodded, smiling a touch himself. He looked at Mabel and after a bit, she smiled too.

"..Okay.", Dipper mouthed for himself.

"...Anything else we should know about?", Stanford asked.

Dipper shook his head.

"No.", he said. "...and that's the truth. I told you everything already."

"Okay.", Ford nodded. "Just want to make sure.."

"Yeah.. Thank you.."

"Of course, Dipper."

After a little moment longer of just letting their nerves rest, everyone went back to bed. Dipper and Mabel had a hard time falling asleep though. they tossed and turned and watched the other move about, till finally Dipper spoke up in the still darkness.

"...Mabel, are you awake?", he quietly called out.

"...yeah..", she nodded. "...can I snuggle in your bed?"

"...Like when we were little?"

"...mm-hmm.."

Mabel heard the bedsheets rustle from Dipper's bed and she crawled over into it. She hugged Dipper's head and soon the two were curled up close in each other's arms. It did help Dipper feel somewhat better, though he mildly still worried about Bill's return.

 _'...He's not gonna kill her.'_ , he thought to himself. _'He won't kill her yet...'_

"...Dipper... What's wrong?", Mabel noticed he hugged her tighter with these thoughts.

"...Mabel, I'm scared..", Dipper whispered. "...I'm really... _REALLY scared_...of what would happen to you... Wh...what could've happened to me.. I-I..."

"But..you didn't..", Mabel reminded him gently.

"No... But... I..I didn't even _want_ to..", Dipper admitted. "..From the beginning.. I.. I let him..make me want to.."

"It'll be okay..", Mabel reassured.

"...Will it?", he asked quietly. "...will anything ever be the same?"

Mabel was quiet for a moment. She couldn't lie. Even to make him feel better.

"..probably not..", she admitted. "...but we'll get through this.."

"..Yeah, but I don't know how..", Dipper sighed a little. "..I have no idea what he's planning on doing... ...I don't know what's gonna happen to you or me now.. I just..."

Mabel gently shushed him and reminded her brother that they still had Stanford and Stanley who could handle pretty much anything and everyone still really loved and cared for him, ready to help with whatever the trouble may be.

"You're right.. _You're right.._ ", Dipper sighed some, having to accept Mabel's truth for what it really was. "...I'm still just really scared though... I think that's a big part of everything Bill's been wanting to do to me... When he said he was happy to make my life miserable.. ...Mabel, I can't stop worrying about what he's gonna do next. I feel like _anything's_ gonna make me wanna scream... Like some horrible nightmare and I _can't wake up.._ "

Mabel's spirits sank low, hearing this. Dipper buried his face more into his sister, a couple of tears escaping him.

"...Mabel... I've been worried about what's gonna happen next since the very beginning of Summer vacataion..", Dipper admitted. "...And I've always relied on your optimism to keep me from letting my anxiety get the better of me.. ...Please...make me laugh... Cheer me up, Mabel... You're the best at it..and I'm too scared to think of anything to smile about. ...Even a stupid sound..ANYTHING.. _...Please?_ "

Mabel bit her bottom lip and thought it over. She wasn't sure what all she could say or do. Nothing seemed appropriate and typically her funniest lines were on the spot. She laid there and sighed, trying hard to think of anything to say. It didn't even have to be funny. Just something to make Dipper smile.

"...last week... Um.. Candy, Grenda, and I were listening to this cute song Candy found on the computer...", Mabel shrugged. "...Do you wanna hear it?"

"Sure..", Dipper closed his eyes. "...I love it when you sing.."

Mabel took a breath and quietly began.

"I walked across an empty land. I knew the pathway like the back of my hand. I felt the earth, beneath my feet. Sat by the river and it made me complete..."

Dipper smiled a little bit, thinking of sitting by the river in the woods with everyone after the fairy-hunt or with Grandpa Stan while they were looking for medicine.

"Oh simple thing... Where have you gone? I'm getting tired...a-and I need someone to...rely on.."

Memories of nightmares and Bill's presence came back to mind and it made Mabel falter a little on the word "tired".

"I came across...a-a-a fallen...tree. ...I felt the branches of it looking at me.."

Both of them thought of every time Bill called Dipper "Pinetree" and how oddly fitting the lyrics suddenly seemed with the recent turn of events. Mabel started to tear up again but tried her best to keep going while Dipper only hugged her tighter as the ache returned to his heart.

"I-Is this the place...we used to love? I-Is this...the place..that I've been dr-dreaming o...of?"

A chilling shiver ran through Dipper as he kept remembering his dreams. How those dreams were really signs Bill was trying to give him and not the silly means of fantasy he once regarded them to be.

"Oh simple thing... Where have you gone? I-I'm getting tired and.. I-I need someone t-to rely on..."

Mabel pulled Dipper closer, making him remember that he did have her. He wouldn't die. No matter what, Mabel, Lee, and Ford would always be there for him. Mabel's voice cracked a little as she pressed on, trying to sing through her own small hiccups as she felt like she was just making it worse yet again for her brother.

"And i-i-if you have a minute why don't we go... Talk about it...somewhere only we know? Cause this.. Th-this could be the e-e-end of...of e-e-everyth-th-thing...", Mabel cleared her throat harshly, trying to keep from crying as both thought of what happened after Dipper dropped the knife. "...S-s-so why don't we go... Somewhere only we know?"

She stopped it early. Dipper took a breath, allowing the thoughts of his loving family and accepting that as long as Bill wasn't attacking now, he still had his family to hold onto and could hold onto them. It somehow made him relax, though he still clung tightly.

He felt a smile tug at his lips though he knew tears were falling.

"...Thank you..", he said quietly.

"...Did it help?"

"Yeah...", Dipper nodded.

Relief washed over Mabel and she heaved a sigh, allowing a smile to spread on her face as well.

"...Thank you.", Dipper repeated. "..Thanks for always finding a way to make me smile.."

"..I always will..", Mabel reassured warmly.

Exhausted from the day and night but happy with these thoughts, they now found sleep.

* * *

 _Laura: Ooh wow.. SO that got..._ intense _... *Chuckles darkly.*  
_

 _Amber: No duh, Sherlock._

 _Laura: Shut it, Watson. Lol. So! We've actually got the whole thing written so updates will happen sooner. ^_^ And don't worry, this isn't the last you've seen of Bill by far.  
_

 _Amber: Oh, absolutely not. He DID say that he's gonna come back for the body soon, after all... :3c_

 _Laura: Tee-hee.. 8D_

 _(Laura: BTW. Real song she sang._

 _Amber: You guys should listen to the full song, "Somewhere Only We Know". Especially by Lily Allen, SO PRETTY. 8D Mabel sang a shortened version of the song that we heard in an old British Christmas commercial.)_


	11. Chapter 11

_Laura: So the last chapter was super dark. Wonder how this should end? =3_

* * *

The next day felt like a chilly wind had blown through the house in the after-affects of a good midnight rain. The Pines twins woke up. They lolled about in bed a little while till Mabel finally noticed how late in the morning it was.

"...We should eat breakfast..", she finally said, staring at their clock.

"...I'm..not really hungry..", Dipper shrugged, last night's events coming back around to his mind.

"...We should still eat..", she looked back at him.

Dipper sighed some and rolled his head away from her's. After a moment, Mabel took him by the hand and dragged them both out of bed.

"Hm? M-Mabel..", Dipper slid a little, being pulled on, but caught himself from hitting the floor when he was pulled out of bed and stood up.

Mabel calmly continued to pull her brother by the wrist out the bedroom door.

"R-Really Mabel.. I'm not hungry.", Dipper sighed a little, following after her.

His stomach growled and rumbled in reply, a tight pain reminded him of how little he had in it.

Mabel said nothing but lead Dipper down the stairs and into the kitchen. Stanley looked up from his coffee as they came in.

"Morning kids.", he greeted quietly with a gentle smile. "Are you doing okay?"

"Morning Grandpa Stan.", Dipper returned. "Yeah.. Kinda.."

Mabel pulled Dipper to a chair and gently pushed him down into sitting in it. Dipper sighed a little and watched as she got them both a couple bowls for breakfast. He started to get up and it made her head snap over to his attention and she quickly stopped what she did and made sure he sat down again.

"...Mabel, sweetie, are _you_ okay?", Stanley asked.

Mabel simply didn't say anything and got breakfast on her own. Words wouldn't convince him. She had to baby her brother a little as she sat down their cereal and pushed his prepared bowl in front of him.

" _...Eat._ ", she instructed calmly.

Dipper smiled a little sadly. Though he was touched by the actions, he knew it was Mabel's general tenderheartedness and fear of what happened last night that made her compelled to do this and he didn't argue back. He couldn't even if he tried. Instead he began to eat and Mabel relaxed and turned to Stanley.

"Morning, Grandpa Stan.", she smiled cheerily again.

She began eating and Stanley chuckled and returned the greeting. All three of them greeted Stanford as he also woke up and got breakfast. Ford paused, getting himself a bowl, and noticed something on the counter. He stared a good moment.

"...What's wrong, Grunkle Stan?", Dipper asked.

"...Who made coffee?", Stanford asked. "And..why isn't it a full pot?"

"Your welcome.", Stanley commented.

Stanford nearly jumped and whirled around with wide eyes. Stanley lifted his mug with a smile and Stanford took a breath.

"Gotta remember you're back..", he rolled his eyes. "Sorry.. Still getting used to my reflection walking around again.."

Stanley chuckled and Dipper and Mabel giggled a little.

"I gotta keep reminding myself you actually _ARE 63_ and that IS what you would look like most mornings.", he teased.

"Shaddup, I didn't have enough coffee to be a brother yet..", Stanford grumbled.

"Where as I'm still on my first cup.", his brother remarked quietly before taking another sip. "The difference between the introvert and...well _most people._ "

Mabel finished her breakfast first and made sure Dipper finished his. She babied her brother a little for the rest of the day and everyone knew why. Dipper didn't fight either. Instead, he more or less clung to his sister and did little to resist if not just deeply appreciate her mothering him.

It seemed like last night was still hanging heavily on everyone's minds as Stanley made sure to keep an eye on them and didn't once let himself get wrapped up in his journals or a book.

When Wendy and Soos came into work, Stanford pulled them aside to bring them up to speed with what's happened.

"What's wrong? Is Dipper okay?", they were asking.

"Dipper's fine...more or less.", Stanford sighed heavily. "That triangle guy is really getting to him. He really freaked the kid out yesterday. ...And I mean he _REALLY_ scared Dipper.."

"Well... What happened?", Wendy asked, seeing Stanford's uneasiness right away.

Stanford looked at Wendy a long time. He knew she would take this news the hardest.

"...Try not to freak out..okay?", Stanford said slowly. "..Dipper's doing okay. He's much better right _now_... But..well... Last night.. He uh...tried to...w-well.."

He trailed off, finding it hard to say. Wendy had been watching him carefully but now her eyes widened a bit as the idea caught on.

"...Wha-!? But-! Whoa whoa whoa, no, he _didn't!_ ", she gasped and took a step back.

"Easy, Wendy!", Stanford tried to calm her down. "He didn't! I mean, he tried to.. But-"

 ** _"SUICIDE?!"_**

"WHAT?!", Soos gasped.

"Calm down, both of you!", Stanford barked.

"But Mr. Pines-!"

"Look, Dipper already has it hard as it is! We need to keep _calm_ around him if we want him to feel better. He's carrying a pretty huge threat because Bill can come around at any time at this point and it's making him a nervous wreck.", Stan explained, cutting off his employees.

" _Stan, he's only **TWELVE!**_ ", Wendy was still in panic. "And he tried to commit **SUICIDE?!** You're telling us to _calm down?!_ What would've happened if he _died?!_ "

She suddenly felt something hard on her face and then a stinging sensation and she couldn't help but gasp and then freeze in shock. Soos gasped in fear and Stanford wrung his hand in guilt.

"...Sorry..", he apologized after smacking her. "Tried to be light about it.."

Wendy did a reality check, reminding herself that Dipper was actually alive and she wasn't being left all alone again like she was before.

"No.. No thanks..", she said, turning her head back to look at him apologetically as she rubbed the red mark on her cheek sorely. "...Sorry for uh..freaking out.."

"It's okay.", he said gently, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I know.."

"...Yeah..", Wendy sighed a little, looking at the floor.

"As far as work is concerned, we're taking an unscheduled day off. Just... It's too depressing right now to even _think_ about trying to scam people..", Stanford sighed. "But you two are welcome to hang out if you want."

They both nodded earnestly and Stanford walked back into the house. The two looked at each other worriedly.

"Oh man, this thing is really dragging Dipper down and where have we been?", Wendy asked.

"I dunno, dude. It seemed like everything kept happening when neither one of us were around.", Soos shrugged.

"Or when we were too far away to really do anything about it.", Wendy noted, thinking back to the fairy hunt and Pacifica being choked.

"Dude.. It's no wonder the little dude's stressed. We should've been there for him.", Soos sighed.

"Yeah.. But what can we do for him now? I mean this is a whole new kinda level of low, Soos. Not one that can be fixed with dinosaur cookies.", Wendy shrugged a little.

"...Well... I dunno.. Dipper's always finding ways to cheer us up. The place was totally boring till he and Mabel came around.", Soos shrugged. "Maybe we can think of something to cheer him up?"

"Yeah.. Oh yeah, _no_ dude. _Dude._ Soos. Think about it.", Wendy pointed at him. "Dude, no seriously _think about it._ What's up with **_Mabel_** in all this?"

Soos thought about it a moment. His eyes then widened with the thought.

" _Oh_ dude! Dude! Aw, _dude_ , oh no.. _No,_ dude that's so sad!", Soos quickly shook his head.

"Oh man, now we HAVE to think of something. But what could cheer up Dipper and Mabel if they're like this?"

The two thought hard for a moment. A thought occurred. They looked at each other and smiled a little. Then they smiled a bit more, excited by the thought.

"...Okay, are we having that kinda twin moment you keep seeing Dipper and Mabel or the Stan Twins doing?", Soos asked. "Y'know, where they're both thinking the _exact_ same thing and say it at the _same time?_ "

"I think we are...", Wendy smirked a little more. "3.. 2.. 1.."

"Movie (video games) Night!", they talked over top of each other and then stopped and looked at each other in confusion.

"...What?", Wendy asked. "Dude. _No._ "

"...Oh yeah, sorry dude.", Soos quickly covered. "Uh... W-What were you saying?"

"...movies.", Wendy suggested, as if it should've been obvious.

"Heh, yeah that's way better.", Soos quickly nodded with a chuckle.

"Yeah, so I'll be right back. I've got the perfect one back at my place.", she nodded and then raced out the door.

Dipper and Mabel have been joined at the hip all day though both were generally very quiet. At one point, they were sitting at the table in the living room while Mabel was knitting and Dipper felt a chill run down his spine. He gasped and cringed and then looked around.

Mabel noticed and quickly put her knitting down.

"What? Dipper, what's wrong?", she asked.

Dipper's eyes skipped across the room and he gasped, thinking he saw Bill's shadow on the wall. He snapped his head towards the direction.

 _"Dipper?"_ , Mabel asked.

"I-I-I-I thou-thought I saw...!", Dipper began to hyperventilate and Mabel placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Whoa, whoa, _whoa_... Calm down Bro.", Mabel tried to gentle reassure him, understanding what he was afraid of seeing. "He's not really _here_ , is he?"

"N-No, but..", Dipper cowered. "B-b-but he's coming back soon! Wh-what if he's-?", he looked behind him. "If-if-if he c-c-came up behind me and..!"

"Dipper.. _Dipper!_ ", Mabel was firm but gentle as she now held onto him by both shoulders and sternly looked him in the eyes. "Dipper, do you see him NOW? Like, _right now?_ "

"W-Well no, but-!"

"Do you see him?"

"But-!"

" _DO YOU SEE HIM?_ "

"...no..", Dipper admitted quietly, finally looking back at her.

"Do you _see ME?_ ", she asked, softening to more concerned than stern.

"...yes..", Dipper, nodded slightly.

"..Okay. Cause I _AM here.._ ", Mabel nodded. "...Bill _isn't.._ "

"...But what if he-?"

Mabel pulled him into a tight embrace and Dipper flinched. After a moment, he slowly allowed himself to relax and hug her back gently.

"... _I'm_ here _,_ Dipper..", Mabel said gently. "...Do you see him?"

"...No.."

"No.", Mabel nodded. "...He's _not_ here.."

"...Sorry.."

"It's okay."

After they calmed down, some time later, the duo were up in the attic again and Dipper and Stanley looked over the boy's notes of the mindscape.

"Hm... These are really good..", the Author commented, turning another page. "You really think?"

"Just kinda seemed like that would be the case.", Dipper shrugged some.

"Augh... Nerd talk..", Mabel sighed a little, making Dipper smile some.

Mabel smiled back, happy to know she was doing a good job of keeping her brother's spirits up.

There was a knock on the door and soon Wendy came in.

"Hey guys! Oh. Hey Other-Mister-Pines.", she greeted.

"Hey Wendy.", the twins waved.

"Wendy.", Stanley nodded.

"Sup, Dudes?", Soos asked, coming in behind her.

"Hey Soos.", the group greeted.

"Are we interrupting or something?", Wendy asked.

"Nah, we're just talking theories.", Stanley shrugged and closed the notebook.

"Cool. Cause you guys aren't gonna believe it. But I've got this movie I wanna show you guys. It's seriously the _WORST. **EVER.**_ ", she quickly whipped the DVD out from behind her to show.

"Twister-Sharks?", Mabel asked.

"Wait... Whaa...?", Stanley looked at the cover in '82-styled confusion.

"Yeah! Come on. Some mindless b-rated junk about horrible computer-animated sharks attacking Kansas and good laughs while we mock for a whole hour?, Wendy asked. "Who doesn't want _that?_ "

"Yeah, actually that sounds like a great idea.", Mabel smiled.

"They actually wasted money on a whole hour-and-a-half's worth of a movie that's about flying sharks and not 15 more sequels to _JAWS?_ ", Stanley asked and then smiled a little. "...Wow. That _does_ sound awful."

Stanley and Mabel looked back at Dipper. Dipper shrugged some, feeling uneasy again about the people around him.

"Uh.. Gee guys, I dunno..", he tried to dodge it.

"Oh come on, Dipper!", Mabel urged, pulling on his arm a bit.

"Yeah, come on, Dude!", Soos encouraged.

"Yeah Dipper!", Wendy joined in. "Di-pper! Di-pper! Di-pper!"

Dipper chuckled and pulled his arm away from Mabel.

"N-no, really guys. I know it's absolute _trash_ and all. But seriously..", Dipper shook his head, trying not to smile to make his point but failing.

"Di-pper! Di-pper! Di-pper! Di-pper! Di-pper! Di-pper!", his friends and family chanted, urging him on.

This inevitably made Dipper start to laugh, as even Stanley was in on it. "Di-pper! Di-pper! Di-pper! Di-pper! Di-pper! Di-pper!"

"Okay! _OKAY!_ ", Dipper giggled and shook his head. "Okay, okay you guys! _You win!_ "

"YEAH!", the others cheered.

Wendy and Soos high-fived each other and soon they call came downstairs and started the movie. Soos got snacks and it wasn't even 15 minutes into it that they all started laughing and mocking.

"Wait wait wait wait..", Stanley cut in and looked at his watch. "..Hang on...6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1..."  
He pointed to the door and Stanford came in as if on cue.

"Your sounds of mockery are keeping me from doing less-than-important nonsense. What's the joke?", he asked.

 _"YOU."_ , Stanley pointed at him as everyone started to laugh.

Stanford rolled his eyes and came over to see for himself.

"Oh. Twister-shark.", he scoffed a little and smiled.

"Yeah but seriously. _JAWS_.", Stanley scoffed.

"Get over it. Not everything has to be 'Back to the Future'.", Stanford chuckled and leaned on the arm-chair.

"Still.", Stanley rolled his eyes and shrugged. "At least this is kinda funny."

"Ha ha ha! Yeah, you know what would be funnier? Is if _Pinetree_ was being _possessed_ right now."

The room instantly died of all laughter as everyone turned to glower at Bipper in the arm chair next to Mabel. Bill chuckled a little and leaned further back into the chair.

Dipper's ghost screamed in terror as he realized what happened.

 ** _'BILL! DON'T, PLEASE!'_** , he begged.

 **"GET OUT OF MY BROTHER'S BODY!"** , Mabel screamed at him, standing up on her knees on the furniture.

"Now why would I wanna do something _stupid_ like _that?_ ", Bill asked, raising an eyebrow curiously. "Look, Shooting Star, this body is _stressed_. I mean like, the physical body has had _chemical inducement_ from the _brain_ to create a _lot_ of stress and tension in it. I feel like I'm gonna PUKE if it doesn't start calming down!"

"It wouldn't be so stressed out if you didn't keep popping in and out of Dipper's life and making him _MISERABLE!_ ", Mabel argued.

"Okay, yeah, I'll admit it. I've made it tough on Pinetree.", Bipper shrugged. "But _I'm_ not the one who told him he should commit _suicide._ "

Just as everyone else started to get up in arms about what he said, Mabel was a split second ahead of their timing as she pulled her fist back and let it fly.

Bill was just as fast though in Dipper's body and caught her fist inches away from it hitting his face. The two locked their narrowed eyes and Bipper slowly lowered her fist to the seat of the armchair.

" _...I wouldn't do that if I were you, Mabel.._ ", Bill warned in a low hiss, his eyes narrowing a bit further. "...Now you listen to me. As long as I don't break anything I promised to do in our little deal, this body is just as much as _MINE'S_ as it is _Dipper's_. And this body is _incredibly stressed_. Did he tell you he really DID puke stomach acid the other day? Yeah. Uh-huh. In the lab."

Bill glanced over at the stunned faces on the other family members' faces. He looked back and even Mabel seemed a bit concerned by the thought, though she still glared at him.

"I'm gonna hold onto it for the rest of the day and take good care of it cause it's MY body too. So... I'm gonna take a shower.", Bill finally let go of her hand and stood up.

"Pardon?", Stanley seemed skeptical.

" _A shower._ Or whatever form of manner you humans go through to clean this hairless suit.", Bill grimaced and rubbed his arms a little. "Pinetree's body is DISGUSTING feeling.. Seriously. Y'know, Glasses, for future reference? When you slather on a thick potion like that cause you didn't add enough water and then go to clean it off your grandson's body, you _might_ wanna consider using a _washcloth_ instead cause I can STILL feel the residue! So. I'm gonna go take a shower."

"Yeah and then do what? Drink the whole bottle of shampoo?!", Wendy growled.

"Psh. No. That's just dumb.", Bill shrugged indifferently.

He got up and started walking out.

"Believe it or not, I'm taking the day off in Dipper's body. Y'know, my plans can be put aside for the moment. So I'm gonna clean up, get to feeling a little better. Go about your abnormal lives, it's okay. I swear, I'm not gonna kill the body or something. After all, I kill Dipper's body...", Bill turned around and smiled back at the family, locking eyes on Stanley momentarily to which the Author returned with suspicion. ".. _Neither_ one of us would have a gateway to your physical world."

Bill disappeared and the family sighed with dread crashing down on them.

"...Dudes. Isn't Dipper like a ghost right now?", Soos asked. "..Wonder what he's doing with all of this.."

"According to his notes about the mindscape... Not much.", Stanley shrugged. "Probably scared out of his mind."

Dipper quickly followed after the body into the hallway.

 _'BILL GIVE ME BACK MY BODY! **PLEASE!** '_, Dipper begged. _'I-I-I'll take a shower more often! I swear! Just give it back!'_

Bill shook his head and rolled his eyes. He went into the bathroom and started getting undressed. He thought about the underwear Dipper had on, but grimaced, closing his eyes and pulling his hands away.

".. _Ew._ No.", he told himself. "Not even gonna.."

He had just stepped into the tub when Dipper came flying in. Bill screamed and Dipper flinched.

 **"OH MY GOSH PINETREE GET OUT!"** , he threw the soap bar at Dipper.

Dipper yelped but then found it going right through him. He stared at the spot in his stomach where the soap bar flew and then looked at Bill in utter confusion.

 _'...Dude. It's my body!'_ , he shook his head. _'Nothing private here!'_

" _Rude!_ "

Bill closed the curtain and started laughing. Even he knew it was pretty silly. Dipper rolled his eyes.

 _'You're doing this SOLELY to mess with me.'_ , Dipper groaned.

"Yup. Hilarious, right?", the water was turned on and brought up to temperature.

 _'Annoying. ...and unnerving! Are you seriously JUST taking a shower?'_

"Yeah, Pinetree. I'm actually JUST taking a shower. I can do human stuff too."

Bipper started rubbing the shampoo into his hair and then stopped as something came to his attention. Dipper watched, feeling kind of awkward for having to do so with his own body, as Bipper's hands slowed down and carefully explored the wet mass of hair. He pushed it one way, and then the other. Dug his fingers in deeper, and then shrugged and continued on.

"Forgot how weird hair felt..", he noted idly to himself.

 _'You had hair?'_

"While I was in the old man's body 30 years ago."

 _'...Weird.'_

"You're telling me. Hair is weird.. Especially _yours._ "

True to his word though, Bill did take a shower without causing any extra troubles. He did take a little time to play with the temperatures though, first seeing how hot he can stand the water then working towards taking it as cold as possible.

Dipper felt weird, watching him the whole time. Of course it was always weird watching someone else shower, but it _was_ his body. But what was weirder still was that Bill didn't have that crazy psycho smile on while he was doing this. Instead after he got used to the cold water, he looked very solemn. His eyes closed and stood there, letting the water pour over him.

 _'...Bill?'_ , Dipper asked.

"...Pinetree, I'm busy trying to enjoy the cold, okay? Could you just _not_ do the obnoxious thing and chatter in my mind?", Bill asked calmly.

Dipper was bewildered by this sudden calm and _gentle_ manner in the demon. But not wanting to anger him or throw him into another psychotic rant, he kept quiet. After a few moments, Bill turned off the water and got out.

While Bipper had been taking a shower though, the rest of the family dispersed, some checking to make sure sharp or dangerous objects were put away safely. Mabel sighed and was flopped over on the armchair, chewing on her hair as she tried to keep calm about Bill's presence.

The phone rang just then and she went and answered it.

"Hello? Pines residence.", Mabel answered.

"Mabel?", a certain Beverly-Hill-accented voice answered.

"Pacifica! Hey, what's up?", Mabel smiled a bit.

"Uh.. I'm doing alright..", Pacifica answered. "I was actually calling to see if you and Dipper were alright. Um.. I.. W-well I was just wondering.."

"Errr.. umm...", Mabel was hesitant to answer.

"...Mabel?"

"...It's been...kinda.. Stressed? I guess?"

"Why? What happened?", Pacifica asked. "Is Dipper okay?"

"Dipper's fine! Sorta.. He's um.. W-well Bill's back.. He's uh.. He's taking the body over for the day and uh..", Mabel could feel the floodgates wanting to break and her voice didn't lie about it either.

"...Mabel, are you okay? You sound like you're about to _cry_. What happened?", Pacifica asked, growing more and more worried. "Bill was _here_ yesterday and then went home. Did something happen?"

"...Well _Dipper_ came back to the Shack after what happened and he.. W-well..", Mabel felt a tear slip by and then couldn't hold back the sob that was swelling up in her throat.

"...Oh my gosh, Mabel, _what's wrong? Is Dipper okay?!_ ", Pacifica answered.

Once one sob was out, the others came rushing in like a tsunami of a wave that it took Mabel a moment to finally clear up enough to answer Pacifica's distressed asking.

"Dipper almost _k-killed himself_ last night!", she finally said.

Pacifica was quiet, too shocked to say anything, as the news sunk in.

"He _didn't!_ I mean.. I-I-! It..! It was ni-night time an-and Dipper..! Th-the-there was a _knife!_ I-I-! He-! He didn't do it, I stopped him but-!", Mabel sobbed a little more and tried to get a grip on herself. "He's so terrified and now _Bill's back!_ An-and I've been _trying_ to be strong for Dipper today but-!"

"...Mabel, I'm coming over.", Pacifica said firmly.

"What? But-!"

"I'm coming over. You need some comfort."

"But Bill-!"

"I am **NOT** gonna let some _stupid triangle_ get in MY way of helping my _friends!_ ", Pacifica said harshly. "Now I am GONNA be there in 30 minutes!"

"Pacifica-!"

The other hung up and Mabel sighed. She sat down the phone and dried her eyes as best as she could, but she couldn't stop crying.

When Bill came out of the shower, he walked through the house, then paused and felt around his head a little.

 _'Now what?'_ , Dipper asked, following him the whole time.

"Huh.. I guess it worked a bit better than I expected..", Bill noted quietly to himself. "You've REALLY been an emotional wreck lately, haven't you? Well... You _did_ throw up."

 _'What are you going on about now?'_

"I'm saying you've got a killer headache.", Bill pointed out, rubbing the side of his head again. "And for once, it's not something I'd enjoy. It feels like someone's _carving my brains out_ like melon innards on Summerween for jack-o-melons..."

 _'Well yeah, between bad sleep and raging extreme emotions and stress!'_ , Dipper scoffed. _'Course my head's been hurting!'_

"Hm.. I think I know how to remedy this..", Bill waved Dipper aside and walked away.

He came into the Gift Shop and looked at the vending machine. He frowned a little more for a moment but then came over and looked through the glass at the assortment inside.

"Hm... Come on, I know I've.. There it is.", he tapped the glass.

Skillfully, the demon opened the machine's case and reached in for the candy. He pulled out a small pack of mint chewing gum and looked over the labels. He kicked the machine closed again and walked over to sit on a barrel, still reading

"Uh.. Okay, good. It does have some mint in it.", he nodded and then unwrapped the gum and popped a couple of sticks in his mouth and started to chew.

 _'Ew.. Chewing gum is like, for old people.'_ , Dipper stuck out his tongue in disgust.

Bill rolled his eyes, chewing the gum.

"Y'know... Witchcraft in the 1100's wasn't really real in most cases.. But those old hags had a few points.", Bill said thoughtfully.

 _'Huh?'_ , Dipper shook his head a little, wondering what conversation Bill was having.

Stanford heard Bill talking on his way by and came into the room, frowning at the boy sitting by.

"What're you up to?", he asked.

"Chewing mint.", Bill shrugged.

 _'Why?'_ , Dipper asked.

Just then, Bill stopped chewing, felt around a little, and then stuck his finger in his mouth. He coated it thickly in saliva and pulled it back out. Dipper and Stanford both groaned in disgust as the demon applied the spit to one side of his head, coated his finger again, and applied to the other side.

 _'Aw, gross! Bill stop that! That's disgusting!'_ , Dipper groaned.

"What the heck do you think you're _doing?_ ", Stanford shook his head. "This is weird, even for _you!_ "

Once more he slathered the spit on his finger and then wiped it over his forehead. He rubbed in the spots good and sighed a little, trying to relax.

" _Aw geez.._ Yeah, peppermint..", he said to himself, closing his eyes. "Well it's doing a good job, despite the cold sting.."

 _'What was the whole point of that?!'_ , Dipper asked.

"Mint cures headaches, at least temporarily. I don't have the means of using the actual herb so I went with second-best. Be glad your spit worked out as a nice extract of it..", Bill shook his head and rolled his eyes, annoyed he had to explain this to Dipper. "Cause there was no way I was gonna walk around with _that_ all day."

He tucked the rest of the gum away in his vest for when it wore off. Stanford sighed and rolled his own eyes.

"I can't tell which is worse.. When you're psychotic or intelligent."

"If you really hate me, you hate it when I'm intelligent cause then you know I'm right.", Bill commented with a smirk.

"...I see your point.", Stanford commented dryly, after thinking it over a bit.

"Relax, old man. I've got this.", Bill chuckled. "I know you don't trust me, and that's pretty much the _only_ sane thing you could do right now, but really. I'm not going out of my way to be a sociopath today."

"Yeah? Then what're you gonna do now?", he asked.

"Get something to eat.", Bill shrugged. "Probably a sandwich."

He got up and walked out to go to the kitchen with Stanford's watchful eye following him.

"...Alright...", he growled suspiciously.

Time passed and as promised, there was a knock at the door. Soos was habitually cleaning up the gift shop while Wendy took a turn keeping an eye on Bipper who was mildly sitting on the shag carpet in the gift shop with his eyes closed. At the sound of the knock, everyone turned to look.

" _I'LL_ GET IT!", Bipper grinned widely and quickly jumped for the opportunity.

"DUDE NO!", Soos shrieked.

" _OH HECK **NO!**_ "

Wendy tackled Bill to the floor and the two struggled.

"Hey! C-come on! You can't restrain me!", Bill struggled to push the ginger off of him.

"I'm not restraining you, genius! You can still move your arms!", Wendy growled. "Someone get the door, _quickly!_ "

Soos hurried over and opened it. Pacifica stood waiting in her llama sweater. She was a little off-guard to see Soos instead of Mabel.

"Oh. Uh..", she peeked in around him.

Wendy had Dipper's body stomach-down, spread out on the floor with one hand pulling back his arms and another in the middle of his back. Bill was struggling to pull himself up.

"Ow ow ow! Stop fighting with me, Red!", Bill groaned.

"It's called wrestling, you sick nacho! I'm allowed to do this!", Wendy shouted back.

Finally they noticed Pacifica and more or less paused in their struggle. Bill smirked, seeing the blonde.

"SO, you really DID like my little pop-over yesterday?", he called out teasingly before Wendy simply slammed his head more into the floor to face it and not Pacifica. " **OW!** "

" _SHUT IT!_ ", the ginger ordered. "You know, your problem is that you _talk too much!_ "

"Uh..", Pacifica began.

"Don't worry, I've got this.", Wendy tried to smile.

"Yeah, well I was gonna ask if you wanted _help_ , but..", Pacifica chuckled some, earning a laugh from the other.

"Nah, I've got _three brothers_ back home.", Wendy laughed.

"Okay, yeah, you've _DEFINITELY_ got this.", Pacifica laughed, too.

"What's up, Dude?", Soos asked.

"Oh yeah, I came here to see Mabel?", she asked.

"Ohhh.. Yeah.. She's upstairs..", Wendy nodded to the door behind her.

"Thanks."

Pacifica hurried off and after she was out of sight Wendy turned back to Bipper and pulled his arms back a little harder.

" _OW!_ GEEZ!"

"YEAH THAT'S _ANOTHER THING!_ ", she growled at him.

During the whole ordeal, Dipper had been watching and panicked when Bill went for the door and was surprised to see Pacifica. Hearing that she came to see Mabel made him fly up to the attic. He got there a good bit before Pacifica and suddenly became very worried.

Mabel was on her bed, buried in her sweater, curled up in a feeble position while she stayed in sweater-town. She was sobbing softly and Dipper flew more into the room and over to his sister.

 _'Oh, no no no, Mabel! I'm sorry!'_

Dipper flew to give her a hug, but then remembered with a depressing horror that his arms went right through her. He sighed and simply curled up next to her, doing his best imitation of hugging her as if they could touch.

Pacifica came up then and looked around. She soon saw a mass of brunette hair and sweater on the bed and became puzzled.

"..Mabel?", she asked, coming over. "...no seriously. What're you _doing?_ You're gonna _ruin_ that sweate-"

She pulled down the neck of the sweater just as Mabel peeked up. Pacifica found herself staring back at a sobbing, bloodshot-eyed mess of emotions as Mabel sniffled and hiccuped.

" _..Oh my gosh.._ ", she breathed, staring back down at this.

Mabel wasted no time in getting a real hug as she came up to her knees and embraced Pacifica tightly, suddenly sobbing harder into her shoulder.

Pacifica hesitated, so unused to just being hugged like this, and would've naturally just pushed Mabel away. She forced herself not to and instead tried to hug her friend back.

Mabel cried until she had finally worn down into hiccups and then she took the time to explain everything to Paz. How Dipper had been so alone yesterday when he came back and planned suicide. The knife in the kitchen and everything. Dipper listened as well. He felt his heart sink low, seeing how scared Mabel was and how much harder and closer to sobbing she became when the story came to when he was about to drop the knife.

"I-I-I'm try-trying to be s-strong for him to-today but..", Mabel sniffled.

"You...haven't had a lot of time to just _cry_ , huh?", Pacifica asked gently.

Mabel shook her head.

"So... With Bill hanging around..", Pacifica sighed some. "Wow... I don't think I've ever seen someone as _hurt_ as you."

Mabel hiccuped again and wiped her eyes.

"...I wish Dipper was back..", she sniffled.

"..I do, too.", Pacifica pulled out a handkerchief from her purse and handed it over to Mabel.

Mabel mouthed a thank you and began wiping her eyes.

 _'Mabel, I_ am _here...'_ , Dipper said sadly, watching her. _'...I won't leave you...'_

"...I never realized...how _scary_ it would be if something happened to him..", Mabel admitted quietly. "...Dipper always looked out for me and.."

"Well don't start thinking you haven't been a good sister to him.", Pacifica shook her head a little. "Dipper still loves you."

"Yeah, but what can we do about Bill? After this.. If Dipper ever does get his body back.. What can I _say?_ What can I _do?_ "

"...Be patient with him, or something, I guess..", Pacifica shrugged. "...Just... I dunno.. Help him cope with it.."

"...I guess..", Mabel quietly said with a shrug of her own.

 _'Mabel, I'm sorry... This is all my fault.. I'm the one who made a deal with him.. If I didn't.. If I never talked with him.. Maybe none of this would've happened..'_ , Dipper sighed and hung his head. _'...And you still love me... Cause you're just awesome that way.. ...I wish you could hear me...'_

"...That sweater _does_ look amazing on you.", Mabel commented with a weak smile.

Pacifica chuckled a little.

"Yeah, well.. You really sounded upset... I hoped it would've made you happy to see me wear it.."

Mabel looked at the sweater a little and then smiled a bit more and nodded.

"...Thanks for just letting me cry it out..", Mabel went on.

"Did it _help?_ ", Pacifica asked. "I know I didn't really say a whole lot.."

"..Yeah.", she nodded. "I.. I think it just really helped to cry it mo-more than it does to hear someone else..."

"...Maybe that's what you can do for Dipper if he comes back.", Pacifica noted thoughtfully. "...Just.. _listen._ "

"...That sounds really good.", Mabel nodded.

"..Wow. Thanks.", Pacifica smiled some. "I'm not used to giving advice on like, family and stuff? So that's really cool how that's helping you out."

Mabel nodded again. Dipper nodded too, smiling in appreciation that his girlfriend would help Mabel out like this.

"Yeah, it helps a lot."

"Good."

The two friends hugged one last time and then soon all three came downstairs.

Bill was sitting in the armchair now, looking at his hands and really allowing it to sink into his mind how they felt. When Pacifica and Mabel reached the bottom of the stairs he chuckled.

"Wow. A lot of blood in your eyes, Shooting Star.", he smirked a little.

"Leave her alone.", Pacifica growled coldly.

"Oh, standing up for your friend again. That was easy to predict.", Bill smiled a little more, raising an eyebrow.

"Whatever, Bill. Just don't hurt Pacifica.", Mabel stood herself in between them.

"Nah, it's easier to get to her when she's _alone._ ", Bill chuckled. "She's a lot more firey when she has friends to look out for, which isn't exactly a _bad_ thing, either. But if I was gonna have my fun with her, I kinda like her to be more isolated, then she seems to be a little more.. _submissive_.."

"You're a creep.", Pacifica grimaced.

"And you're an idiot.", Bill giggled. "You seriously just let a guy into your home..."

"Whatever! _Not_ listening!", Pacifica flipped her hair at him and pulled Mabel away. "Come on, Mabel, let's braid our hair or something."

"Mm..", Mabel looked back at Bipper while she was being pulled away and sighed some. "...I-I guess.."

Just as the girls started to head off, Bill came up from behind them and quickly started shoving them from behind. He had a firm hold of their shoulders so that while they protested and tried to fight back, he moved them through the house and into another room where everyone was waiting.

"OH! Will you look at that? The whole family's here!", Bill grinned widely.

He gave a last shove to make sure Mabel and Pacifica were with the others.

"Okay, so you've got us together like you asked. What is it you want?", Stanley asked suspiciously.

Bill smiled a little more.

 _"...I wanna make a deal with you."_

* * *

 _Laura: I love mint. Like seriously, it works wonders on migraines and yes, mint-spit does work almost as good as the actual extract, speaking from experience. XD  
_


	12. Chapter 12

_'What do you want, Bill?'_ , Dipper asked, watching the demon carefully.

"It's quite simple, really.", Bill began casually while the girls settled themselves in with the rest of the family and he leaned against the doorway. "Now that I've rested the body and it's healed up and calmed back down, hydrated, fed, and all that sweet mess. I'm willing to give you back Dipper and back off from the family entirely...if you just give me those _Journals._ "

"And we've been over this. **NO.** ", Stanford growled. "We're not helping you in your crazy scheme!"

Bill nodded along solemnly, expecting to hear such an answer.

"Wow.. I did hope Dipper's family would've cared a bit more... But I do understand why you wouldn't wanna help me.", Bill said agreeably.

He stood back up and took a step to the side.

"I guess the best I can do is use more _persuasive_ manners.."

This made the family uneasy.

"...Persuasive _how?_ ", Mabel asked.

Bill looked back at her and slowly smiled till it stretched over his face in its same demonic manner. Everyone was frozen in place in anticipation as silence hung in the air for a long time.

 **"...CATCH ME IF YOU CAN SUCKERS!"**

Bill tore off out the doorway and through the house.

Everyone jumped to their feet and raced after him with screams.

 ** _"BILL WAIT COME BACK WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!"_** , the general mix of chaos made the demon laugh loudly in excitement.

 _'BILL COME BACK WITH MY BODY!'_ , Dipper flew after him.

Bill ran straight to the stairs, out the window, onto the roof, and climbed up past their little ledge with the beach chair. Everyone followed him all the way to the furthest top and all the way across the spine of the roof. First Mabel, then the Stan twins, soon followed by Pacifica and then Wendy and Soos. Bill spun back around with a wide grin as he watched everyone follow up close behind him. He stepped up to the ledge with the megaphone, causing a few to gasp and Mabel to shriek.

 **"DON'T!"**

 ** _'BILL DON'T DO THIS, MAN!'_** , Dipper begged, helplessly floating right beside him.

"Do I have your attentions _now?_ ", Bill asked smugly.

"Bill, you don't have to do anything crazy like this!", Stanley called out. "Come on now, let's be _reasonable!_ "

"I agree wholeheartedly.", Bill chuckled and leaned back on the megaphone casually, causing a few more gasps. "Let's be _reasonable_ and just give the Journals to me!"

"Bill, seriously!", Stanford spoke next. "Isn't this kinda desperate for you? I mean.. Without Dipper's body.. You can't be physical!"

"Hey news flash! _**YOU'RE** THE DESPERATE ONES!_ Ha ha ha ha ha ha!", Bill laughed at them.

It then dawned on everyone what had happened.

 _'Wait.. So all this time you've been hurting me? Making me go out on a nearly psychotic break down?! It was all to just stir up concern from my family?!'_

"Yeah, Pinetree! That's how masterminds work!", Bill cackled. " _ALL_ this time..!"

Bipper leaned himself back to falling over the roof. Screams were let loose from everyone, but the demon kept his feet encircled around the megaphone, allowing the weight and momentum to swing him around.

"...That I've been messing with you, Pinetree...", Bill stood back up again. "..Was to really freak out your family and friends. To REALLY show how _DANGEROUS_ it is for a little boy to hold an all-powerful _demon_ like me! That way they have no choice but to listen! I can possess any sap in Gravity Falls. They're all idiots! It'd be easy! But they only have ONE Dip-stick and I don't think one Stan is quite ready for _another_ family loss..."

Everyone stared with wide eyes, not sure if he was gonna try something again. Bill locked his onto Stanley's and the man knew it. They stared down for a long time, already knowing the ultimatum.

"...So hand over those Journals..", he said, stretching out a hand. "Or watch your precious grandson **_DIE._** And I mean, FOR GOOD. No ghosts. No summoning. He'll be totally and completely _GONE that not even a vapor trail of his afterlife existence would REMAIN!_ "

" _What?! **No!**_ We can't just give you the Journals!", Mabel scowled. "This isn't fair!"

"But Mabel, he's threatening to _kill DIPPER!_ ", Pacifica argued.

"Whoa, hang up dudes. If we give him the Journals, aren't we just helping him?", Soos asked.

" _Soos, it's DEATH!_ ", Wendy rolled her eyes.

"I actually don't know how much he's _bluffing.."_ , Stanford commented, skeptically.

"But if we don't do anything, we could lose Dipper!", Pacifica brought back to point.

While the others squabbled, Stanley thought it over in his own mind. He didn't want to give the Journals to Bill.

All those years of round-the-clock hard work and near psychotic breaking. Written by hand in several different fashions.

Near-death situations...

Crazy adventures...

Friendships made...and lost...

Years spent with family so very long ago...

He knew Bill had some evil intentions and whatever they would be, it would probably be the death of everyone. But how much they hinged on the destruction of the journals, Stanley didn't know. How much Dipper's **_life_** depended on this trade though was a certainty.

Bill and Stanley had their eyes locked onto each other. Bill stood there, quietly swaying back and forth on his heels, tempting the fate of Dipper's body.

"The guy's a complete psycho and has been acting weird all day! _He could be lying!_ ", Stanford was yelling along with the others. "I don't think he would ACTUALLY just plunge himself over the roof!"

"Wanna try me?", Bill asked smugly, leaning on the megaphone.

 _ **"NO!"**_ , Pacifia, Wendy, and Mabel shrieked.

"Ha ha ha ha! See, I won't until I have the-!"

The megaphone suddenly cracked under Dipper's weight and broke off the roof. Bill almost fell over but managed to catch himself and backed up from the edge. Everyone screamed in fright.

" _Whoa!_ ", he froze for a quick moment and then smiled again and looked back. "See? It's easy to die up here."

 _'BILL! CAREFUL WITH MY BODY!'_ , Dipper screamed.

"Yeah, but would you _actually-_ ", Ford began.

 **"ALRIGHT."** , Stanley's voice covered over everyone else's.

Everyone stopped and stared. Bill smiled more and Stanley sighed heavily.

" _..You win._ ", he admitted his defeat and took out the journals. "You can have them as long as you give us back Dipper as soon as you're done with them."

 _'Grandpa Stanley, DON'T!'_ , Dipper called out.

 _"FINALLY!"_ , Bill's shoulders dropped with relief as he rolled his eyes. "It's about time!"

"But Stan-!", everyone else began.

" _No._ ", Stanley cut them off. "He won. There's no other way around it."

"Grandpa Stanley, we can't just give them to him!", Mabel whined a little.

" _OH COME **ON** , SHOOTING STAR!_", Bill groaned, catching her attention again. "Didn't you say at the beginning of this whole thing that you'd do _ANYTHING to keep your brother safe?_ "

"I would!", Mabel retorted.

"SO _PROVE IT!_ Right now! RIGHT. NOW. Yeah. I want YOU, Shooting Star, _YOU,_ to hand me the journals!", Bill pointed at her, singling her out. "Go ahead! Come on, now. Prove it. Prove it to _EVERYONE_ that you _really WOULD_ do anything for Pinetree! Sacrifice _everything_ that's been worked on for your dumb sibling."

"But..", Mabel hesitated.

She thought back to what he told her at the beginning of all this. What he said to her during the sock opera. She didn't give him the Journals then, but if she did now.. Would she actually get Dipper back?

Stanley handed them over to her and Mabel looked up in distress.

"Grandpa Stan...", she begged. "...We _can't_.."

"We _have_ to.", Lee looked pained to say it, but he sighed and rested them in her hands. "I trust you, Mabel.."

Mabel turned back to Bill. He stood at the very edge. He had his hands stretched out, ready to receive the books. All the while, Mabel's mind was still racing.

She was about to give him the Journals during the Sock Opera. But then she didn't. She pulled him in. They fought. He fell out of Dipper's body when he fell asleep.

 _'Wait, how come he couldn't just come back into his body later?'_ , Mabel wondered.

Mabel had the Journals out and was just about to put them in Bill's awaiting hands when she stopped. Bill's smile froze as he watched her, but then it stretched just a bit more.

" _...Shooting Star.._ ", he called to her.

Mabel frowned, lost in her own thoughts and pulled back. His smile slowly disappeared into a frown as realization slowly crossed Mabel's face.

 _'He couldn't have kept Dipper's body because Dipper said he broke the promise. He didn't give him the password to the laptop and then he fell asleep.'_ , Mabel began to piece together. _'If we did get Bill to break this promise and find some way to knock him out.. But he knew this. He made sure the body was well taken care of today. I can't just tire him-'_

 ** _"MABEL."_**

Mabel snapped back to reality and looked back up as the demon called her so firm and coldly. He scowled at her and had his arms stretched out.

 ** _"...GIVE ME THE JOURNALS."_** , he demanded through gritted teeth. **_"...NOW."_**

"Just.. Just gimme a minute.", Mabel pulled the books back to her. "I just need to think!"

"MABEL, WHAT'RE YOU DOING?!", everyone gaped.

" ** _MABEL. HOW HARD IS THIS?!_** ", Bill was losing his patience. "IT'S THE _JOURNALS_ OR _DIPPER._ THAT'S **_IT!_** There's no other option!"

There was. And Mabel knew it. But she also knew it was going to be one heck of a ride. He started marching towards her.

"JUST. **_GIVE._ _ME._ **_THOSE._ **_JOURNA-!_** "

Mabel quickly heaved the books up over Bill's head. The demon gasped and watched all three sail over his head and he quickly spun around and started to chase, but stopped short as he ran out of porch.

 _"WHOA WHOA WHOA WHOA!"_ , he caught himself.

He stepped back a step but then felt Mabel push into him. In one quick movement, Mabel had pulled out her grappling hook and ran. She pushed herself and Bill off the roof and everyone, even Bill, screamed in terror.

 ** _'MABEL NO!'_** , Dipper soared after them.

Mabel quickly shot her hook and it flew past everyone. It almost hit Soos, but he dodged it just in time as it instead grasped the end of the "Mystery" sign. The two plunged to earth till the snap of the line caused them to go swinging, nearly missing the porch and coming straight to the front door. Mabel kicked the door in and the two were sent sprawling across the floor all the way into the gift shop. They groaned as they came to a stop and tried to pull themselves up to rub their heads in pain. Bill was the first to recover though and he quickly got to his feet.

Bill tore off for the Journals out in the front yard and Mabel scrambled to run after him. She tripped but grasped his ankles, making Bipper trip as well and the two fell over onto the floor again. Bill struggled to pull her off his feet without actually kicking her.

"GET _OFF_ OF ME!", he hissed.

" _MAKE_ ME!"

"NO!"

Bill twisted around and started pulling himself across the floor with Mabel in tow, refusing to fight. Mabel growled some and turned around to dig her heels into the wood. She pulled back and the two struggled until finally Mabel managed to pull herself up to her feet. She accidentally sat back down again, but it was enough to pull Bill back.

"OW! LET GO!", he shouted at her.

 **" _NO!_ "**, she strained on pulling him again. **"NOT TILL YOU'RE OUT OF DIPPER'S BODY!"**

 **"SHOOTING STAR YOU'RE MAKING ME _MAD!_ "**

Dipper watched in horror. He knew he couldn't do anything, he couldn't even be heard. The best he could do was scream at Bill but what could he say?

Mabel continued trying to pull him away from the door and finally Bill managed to pull his knees up underneath him and stand up. He tried to shake Mabel off of him, but the girl was persistent as she now grabbed him by the shoulders and attempted to pull him back down to the floor. They struggled and then finally Bill had it.

" _I! WORKED! TOO HARD! **FOR THIS!**_ ", he screamed and then pushed Mabel around so she was pinned against the wall.

And then it was really on.

 ** _'BILL WHAT'RE YOU DOING?!'_**

Bill slammed Mabel's head so hard into the wall, she started seeing stars around her head before he did it again. Mabel cried out in pain and then threw a punch. Bipper stumbled back with a cry out in pain and Mabel tackled him. They wrestled across the floor, punching and pushing at each other till Bill was over-top of Mabel and not holding back as he punched her in the face.

 ** _'BILL NO! STOP!'_**

Dipper grabbed at Bill and tried to wrestle him out of the body. Even if it was pointless. Bill seemed totally unaffected by it while Dipper pushed and pulled and did everything he could.

 **"BACK OFF PINETREE!"** , he snarled.

 ** _'LET GO OF MY SISTER!'_**

Mabel gasped and struggled, but cried out in pain with each hit she took.

 _'BILL LET GO OF HER!'_

Dipper wished he could just burst into flames right here and now and rip Bill out of the body. Suddenly he did, bright red fire soared up around him, and the demon screamed and backed away. Dipper gasped, and immediately the flames dispersed. Bill started to curse himself for confusing dreams with reality but Mabel had seized the opportunity to push on him and pin him to the floor. She grabbed him by the hair in one hand and banged his head against the hardwood, screaming and crying out in hysterics.

 ** _"YOU-! AND ALL THESE NIGHTS! JUST-! GET OUT! GET OUT OF HIM!"_** , she screamed.

Bill finally reached her hands and pushed them off. The two were in a struggle-hold as Dipper had gained an understanding that the mindscape was the same as imagination. He tried to laser-eye Bill but the beams went right through Bipper's head. Bill flinched, but he didn't falter in the fight, keeping in mind that Dipper was nothing to him in this body.

Finally he managed to push Mabel off of him and the two rolled across the floor a bit and ended up hitting their heads on the sides of one of the shelves in the shack.

Bill finally pulled Mabel down towards the ground and spun her around so he could once again choke her.

She felt around behind her and found the edge of a bottom shelf. She strained to reach a little further, found something, and then beat him over the head with it a couple of times. There was a shattering sound. She heard screaming then.

Everyone had come downstairs in time to see Mabel and Bill tumble across the floor and her hitting him in the head with a snow globe.

Mabel barely knew what was happening other than Bill was on top of her, out cold. She pushed the body off and rolled away from it. People were calling her. She tasted something salty and metallic as it dribbled down her face. Mabel looked back, seeing Bipper was unconscious and stumbled over, but her arm hurt and she fell over onto his chest. At first she didn't hear anything. Then she heard something like cicadas, very loudly.

The next thing she knew she was in Stanford's lap. Everything was blurry and dark.

"Mabel! MABEL!", Stanford was calling back to her distantly. "MABEL, CAN YOU HEAR ME?"

Mabel moaned in reply. Slowly, things started coming into focus. She was in Ford's lap. He was washing her up with a washcloth. There was lots of talking.

"Dipper...", she groaned, holding her head as it throbbed in pain. "Dipper..? Where's.. _Ouch!_ W-W-Where's Dipper?"

"He's being taken care of.", Stanford answered. "Easy, sweetie. Don't worry about him, you're bleeding."

She suddenly remembered being on Dipper's chest but not hearing a beat. Fear seized her and she struggled to sit up.

"Mabel! Take it easy!", Stanford tried to push her back down gently.

"N-No..!", Mabel pushed his hand away.

She trembled from head to foot but got to her hands and knees and crawled over to Dipper. It hurt to move but the sole thought of his heartbeat kept her going. He was surrounded by Stanley and Soos as they tried to clean him up. Pacifica was hurrying in and out of the room with medical supplies and washcloths.

Mabel gasped as she saw Dipper's banged up body and the puddle of blood pooling from his head while Stanley was constantly wiping at his wound with a washcloth. Water and shattered glass of the snowglobe laid a few feet away.

 **"OH MY GOSH, _DIPPER!_ "**, Mabel screeched.

She started crying again and fell on top of the boy's body. She reached up and tried desperately to feel a heartbeat. Nothing came.

"Mabel, take it easy! Dipper's only unconscious!", Lee tried to pull her back.

" _His heart's not BEATING! **IT'S NOT BEATING! I KILLED MY BROTHER!**_ ", Mabel bawled.

 ** _"WHAT?!"_**

Stanley checked too. He leaned an ear on Dipper's chest and soon became very panicked.

"Oh my gosh.. _NO!_ NO, DIPPER _COME ON!_ "

"I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY!", Mabel continued to cry.

"NO..", Stanford gasped, eyes wide.

 _"DIPPER WHERE ARE YOU?!"_ , Mabel called out between sobs.

When Bill fell unconscious, he came soaring out of the body.

 _'Mabel you genius! I can finally have my body back!'_ , Dipper flew straight to it in excitement.

Before he could reach it though bright blue fire sprung up all around the body, causing the boy to instantly pull back and retreat, as he also felt its heat.

 _'WHOA! WHOA!'_ , Dipper gasped as he backed away. _'WHAT?'_

 _'No way! I'm not letting you take back the body that easily!'_ , Bill warned.

The yellow triangle was now a fiery red and before Dipper had time to react, a large black shadow lashed out and wrapped tightly around the boy. He was sent flying, hurtled back behind Bill's shoulder. Dipper screamed and came to a halt. He caught himself and turned back around.

 _'WELCOME TO MY DOMAIN, PINETREE!'_ , Bill's deep demonic voice boomed out at the boy. _'YOUR PERSONAL NIGHTMARE!'_

Dipper scowled, already up for the fight. He didn't have very long though. Ten minutes without him and the body would die. And being on the same field, they both saw and felt everything their imagination conjured.

Dipper laser-eyed Bill, but this time the demon was more than prepared as he caught the beams and threw it right back at the boy. Dipper ducked. The beam tore up his hat some. Bill created a swirling vortex around Dipper, catching him in the wind and causing the boy to spin uncontrollably. Dipper screamed and struggled, but managed to push his way out. He fell half-way through the floor, but made quick dash for his body.

 _'I DON'T THINK SO, KID!'_ , Bill called out, snapping his fingers and suddenly producing a large brick wall.

And instead of going through it, since it was imagination, Dipper hit it straight on. He groaned in pain and then pushed himself up past it.

 _'Alright, FINE!'_

Dipper quickly created a ball of red fire in his hand and threw it at Bill. Bill deflected the fire but Dipper quickly turned it into a long rope of flame and quickly wrapped it tightly around Bill's ankle. The demon screamed and kicked off the flames, which quickly dispersed. He then blasted Dipper with pure energy but Dipper quickly pulled up a mirror. It deflected the blast and narrowly avoided Bill. Dipper then produced more mirrors. They surrounded the demon and pushed him into a tight corner. Bill tried to destroy them but couldn't.

Dipper turned his attention back to the body.

 _'ENOUGH OF THESE GAMES!'_ , Bill cried out.

In a quick clean swipe, the mirrors disappeared and Bill soared after Dipper.

The illuminacho tackled into the boy and the two came crashing into Dipper's body at the same time.

Dipper's body suddenly flinched and twitched as it took in a gasp of air. Everyone was shocked.

 _"DIPPER!"_ , Stanley gasped.

"Aah-! Aa- _aah!_ ", Dipper's body thrashed a little bit, as the two continued wrestling in his mind. His eyes glowed bright blue as he cried out in pain.

" _WHAT'S HAPPENING?!_ ", Mabel shrieked.

Stanford quickly pulled Mabel away. But not long after clawing the air, did the body suddenly stop and fall back, dead to the world.

Stanley quickly checked. Everyone was silent as they waited. Soon he sighed with relief and rubbed his eyes.

"We have a pulse.", he announced. "...I think.. I think Dipper and Bill are fighting for the body."

"Mabel, you hear that? Dipper's alive. It's okay.", Stanford said soothingly, gently rubbing Mabel's arm a little.

Mabel quieted down to sniffles and hiccups and then the pain sunk in deeply into her mind. She moaned and curled up tightly, holding her head.

Her brain throbbed, her face stung and was bleeding. Her throat ached with held-back sobs. Her arms were quickly bruising and throbbed dully in the pain. Her chest heaved, still trying to work air back into it, but hurt worse as she sobbed. Her stomach had been knotted up and was working on unwinding and her legs were as sore as her arms as they had been pounding and pushing so much in just a few short minutes with so little sleep from the night before. All the adrenaline was gone and all Mabel could do at this point was curl up in her grunkle's lap and cry in the pain of it all.

While Stanley and Soos took care of Dipper, Wendy and Ford returned to taking care of Mabel. They washed her up, Mabel glanced back at the room. She saw the snow globe she had used to hit Bill and her guts knotted up again a little. She turned away from it and tried to put it out of her mind.

Ford began to apply medicine and then Mabel had a full understanding of what kind of pain Dipper goes through when he steps in to be the hero.

"Ooowwwww! That _stiiiings_!", Mabel flinched away from the cotton ball.

"I know, I know.. but you gotta let me..", Stanford moved the cotton ball to apply more. "You burned your knees, scraping across the wood."

Mabel twisted and turned, not wanting to feel the sting again.

"No! It _hurts!_ ", Mabel cried like the little girl she was.

"Yes, sweetie, it _does_ hurt but you gotta lemme clean you out. I don't want you to get infected.", Grunkle Stan insisted. "Here. Hold my hand. Squeeze it when it hurts, okay?"

Mabel did so and when Ford gently pushed the cotton ball over a scratch, she squeezed, cried a little more, and then whined some from the pain. She couldn't help it. She didn't often get beaten up like this. Stan gently shushed her, trying to be comforting, and he and Wendy set to get her feeling better.

* * *

 _Laura: I've reasons for cutting them this short! I want the timing to be kept! XD Poor Mabel, though. She's not used to getting beaten up and rubbed with disinfectant like her brother is.  
_

 _Amber: Yeah, but who's to say Mabel's just glitter and sweaters? ;)  
_


	13. Chapter 13

When everything was done and bandages were placed or wrapped. Grandpa Stan took Dipper's body up to his bedroom. Mabel stayed close behind to keep an eye on him. The boy laid there, still twitching or grimacing in his sleep. Lee and Mabel watched for a little bit until he settled back down with a deep sigh.

"...So.. You were trying to make Bill break the deal himself and took it on your own to force the body unconscious?", Lee asked, earning a nod. "You could've gotten hurt worse than you have been. You know that, right?"

Mabel nodded again, slower.

"Stan and I had thought to do the same, but we didn't want to risk hurting Dipper too badly. I don't think anyone did..", Stanley commented. "We really have been worked up, worried about what he's been having to go through."

"...I just wanted my brother back..", Mabel said quietly and leaned on the bed, watching the sleeping body.

"That was very brave of you..", Stanley smiled some, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"...But shouldn't Dipper be coming back?", Mabel asked, glancing up at her grandfather.

"Judging by how Dipper's body keeps thrashing about.. It seems Bill and Dipper had re-entered the body after his heart stopped beating.", Stanley then sighed. "And now they're fighting for it in Dipper's dreamworld. Bill might still be able to keep it, if he can manage to kick Dipper out..."

"...Can Dipper push Bill out?", Mabel asked in a timid voice. "..It's his body..."

Stanley remained quiet, unsure of how to answer that. Technically it is Dipper's body. But he's going against Bill. A demon who's been at the game for a few thousand years.

"...He _might_..", he answered uneasily.

Mabel sighed a little more and laid her head on the bed.

"...Do you want anything, Mabel?", Lee asked.

"...No..", Mabel shook her head.

"...I'm gonna go downstairs and see how everyone else is holding up. Just call if you need anything.", Stanley kissed the top of her head and then headed out.

Mabel hung around Dipper's side. After a while she picked up her knitting. She looked at the design and felt herself wanting to cry a little. She wiped her eyes and began to work.

Mabel stayed like that for what felt like hours. Diligently working on this project. She did end up crying when she thought of what Dipper was going through. What he always did for her. The throbbing pain she felt from fighting with Bill. Why didn't she take it more seriously after the Sock Opera? She thought back to their fight at the beginning of everything. Her tears made her want to work faster, but her hands trembled and made it hard for her to do anything. Friends and family came up often to check on her, try to comfort her.

Dipper's body continued to twitch and groan while he slept. It was like he was having an intense nightmare. Sometimes he settled down into peaceful slumber, other times he would be grasping the bedsheets and sweating while crying out in pain. His voice also kept changing between sounding like Dipper and sounding like Bill and Dipper were talking over top of each other.

"Mm- Stop!", Dipper called out at one point.

He shook his head back and forth like he was being punched in the face.

" _PINETREE.._ "

"JUST DIE ALREADY!", both voices talked again.

Watching him in times like these made Mabel's guts churn in fear and anxiety. But talking wouldn't do anything to help him.

And in an instant, just as he was starting to sit up, the body fell over limply and fell back into deep sleep with a sigh. Mabel wiped away her tears and knitted some more.

"...I'm sorry, Dipper..", she whispered quietly.

* * *

Everything was black. Nothing was heard. Nothing could be felt.

Slowly things began to warp into place in the boy's mind. He began to recognize the bedsheets he was grasping. And the coolness of the sweat that poured over him. He wanted to turn his head, open his eyes. It suddenly felt like an impossibility. His head slowly pounded with a dull throb of an ache and the whole skull felt like a block of lead with a weak neck to turn it. He felt something vibrate through his throat in terms of a sound, but even that took strength.

He struggled and then managed to finally peel back his eyelids. The light of the room hurt at first and he quickly screwed them shut again and let out a breath in place of a moan.

His head flopped to the other side of the pillow and he tried again.

The corner was darker and it allowed his eyes to readjust to light. He turned his head again and rested eyes on Mabel, who was quietly sobbing into his bedsheets. He moaned again and tried to speak.

"Mabel...", his voice croaked out in a feeble whisper.

Mabel gasped and her head flew up.

"Dipper?!", she breathed, almost unable to believe he was awake. "Is.. That is _YOU_ , isn't it?"

"Y-yeah..", Dipper struggled to create volume in his voice.

"But Bill...! How did you-?", his twin shook her head in confusion.

"I-It was crazy..", Dipper took a deep breath. "...like some..twisted nightmare. I.."

He frowned. He brought a hand to his head and raked back his hair as something dawned on him, besides acknowledging in the back of his mind he had bandages taped there.

 _"...That jerk.."_, he breathed.

"Dipper?"

"I-I don't remember... B-bill must've.. I dunno.. Done _something.._ It's really like a dream.. I don't remember how it ends...", Dipper sighed. "Man.. He's such a jerk... H-he..made me forget..."

"But he's gone?", Mabel asked. "Like.. _Gone_ , can't come back into your body, _**gone**_?"

"Yeah..", Dipper smiled. "Great job, Mabel.. I saw what you did to him."

He frowned again as he watched his sister start to cry a new flood of tears.

"Mabel?"

"I'm sorry Dipper! I'm sorry I fought with you! I'm sorry I fought with you _ALL THE TIME!_ ", Mabel sniffled but then everything came rushing out and it hurt all over again. "I'm sorry I hurt your body so badly! I'm sorry you were put through this! I'm sorry I was never a better sister to you! That I didn't pay more attention to you when Bill came around! _I'm sorry!_ It's all _my_ fault this happened! I shouldn't have fought with you! I'm _so_ sorry Dipper! You _DO_ have a heart because you went through all of this and so much more _ALL SUMMER LONG just for ME!_ I shouldn't have called you heartless and I'm just sorry! I'm really, _really sorry!_ "

Dipper watched as Mabel continued to cry, saddened by the sight himself. He then tried to pull himself up, but sharp pains suddenly shot through his body and it made him groan in pain.

Mabel looked up and saw Dipper struggle to sit up.

"NO! _Nonononono_ Dipper you should lay down! You're still hurt!", Mabel wanted to push him back down but didn't know if that would hurt him more.

Everything was a constant throb of sharp pain and his skin stood on end like pins and needles, but Dipper pulled himself up against the pillow to sit.

 _"DIPPER WHAT'RE YOU DOING?! LAY BACK DOWN!"_

Mabel moved to push him back down but Dipper dropped his weight onto his sister's shoulder and clung weakly to her. Mabel froze as Dipper buried his face into her shoulder.

" _...I'm sorry Mabel.._ ", he said quietly. "...I hurt you too.. You're...y-you're not dumb.. ...you're not stupid Mabel... ...I sh-should never have said that.. Yo..you're big heart? ...it's one of the best... _best_ things about you.."

Mabel hesitated and then hugged her brother back tightly. But in a split second the boy cried out in sharp pain and Mabel quickly let go.

" _Sorry!_ ", she yelped. "Sorry! I'm so sorry.."

"It's okay..", Dipper rubbed his back, getting used to moving again. "Aahhh.. O-okay, maybe not. Shoot.. Ow.. Geez, Mabel... Take it a little easier next time?"

"Dipper!", Mabel half-sobbed and half-laughed. "That's..stupid of you!"

Dipper chuckled a little too, coughed violently and then groaned and held his chest in pain. He fell back onto the pillow and sunk into soft exterior deeply with a sigh.

"...You're not gullible.", Dipper looked at her sadly. "And..."

He frowned and cocked his head a little in confusion.

"...Is..is that a new sweater?", he asked.

Mabel nodded. She lifted her arms to show a dark blue sweater with light blue words.

"I'M SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO..."

The "so"s wrapped around her whole sweater and she turned to show. At the bottom it said "sorry". Dipper frowned a bit more after she showed it off.

"...I started it after our first fight..", she explained.

 _"...burn it."_ , Dipper ordered weakly, frowning more.

"Wh? ...I'm not gonna burn it.", Mabel frowned.

"Unravel it then..", Dipper rolled his eyes.

"Dipper..."

"Seriously. _I **hate** it._ ", Dipper smiled a little. "It's disgusting. You.. You can make better sweaters than that.."

"Dipper..", Mabel started to get a little annoyed.

"How about one that says 'amazing twin sister'?", Dipper teased.

Mabel couldn't help but giggle a little. Dipper held out his arms and Mabel gladly took the invitation to crawl next to Dipper and hug him gently.

Grunkle Stan then started to come in.

"Hey Mabel, we- Oh. Kid, you're up!"

He stopped short, seeing Dipper awake and he wasn't the only one upstairs. Lee and the rest were coming up to check on Mabel and looked around Ford to see.

"Oh _good_ , you're awake!", Stanley smiled in relief.

"Hey guys..", Dipper waved a little.

They came in and soon gathered around the bed, asking how Dipper was feeling and how long he's been up.

"I'm still pretty sore.", Dipper explained. "And I just woke up.."

"Hm.. You think you'll be alright?", Stanley asked, looking over him some.

"Yeah.. Aside from being sore, I feel kinda.. Like, new to feeling.", Dipper shrugged. "It's weird. Even some sounds, I feel like my nervous system just jumped."

"Yeah. You're probably readjusting to your body.", Stanley nodded. "Haven't been using it all day and everything.."

Dipper nodded.

"Hey.. How long was I out?", he asked.

"Dude, you've been asleep for like, _30 years!_ ", Soos explained.

There was a pause and then slowly Stanford turned to look at Soos's grinning face in disbelief.

 **"...YOU DID _NOT._ "**, he scolded, trying to keep his voice low.

"Oh come on, Dude! I had to say it!", Soos laughed some, also trying to keep quiet for Dipper.

"Wh-? _OH MY GOSH._ ", Stanley rolled his eyes. "That was _NOT_ funny."

"Lame!", Dipper chimed in, though also laughing.

"Yeah it was!", Mabel giggled.

"Dude, that was _stupid!_ ", Wendy hit Soos with her hat.

"Oh come on dudes, we need something funny!", Soos shielded himself from the attack.

Everyone else started to laugh. Pacifica looked around in confusion.

"Huh?", she looked at Mabel.

"We'll tell you later.", she shook her head.

Dipper was also laughing but then groaned and held his chest in tight pain.

"Ooh, ooh, easy there Dipper.", Wendy warned him. "Dude, you took a serious beating.."

"Yeah.. Mabel's really tough..", Dipper chuckled some.

Pacifica slipped through the crowd to come a little closer. She looked concerned.

"But is he like... Actually gone?", she asked. "You're not.. You're not gonna turn back into Bipper, are you? Is that right?"

"Heh. Yeah.. Bill's gone. He broke the deal. He can't get back in.", Dipper nodded.

Pacifica looked at him for a moment and then scowled.

 _"So it took you a near-death incident and mini-coma to finally become half-way NORMAL?"_ , she scolded.

"Wha-?! Sorry!", Dipper cowered some.

"You _should_ be! I was like, scared out of my mind! I don't do blood, Dipper!", she continued to scold, stepping closer. "I thought I _lost_ you! _I thought you were DEAD, Dipper Pines!_ "

"W-Well I-!"

Before Dipper could finish his sentence, he met a pair of lips against his, earning a large exclamation clamor from the others who then began to chuckle and laugh some at the sweet couple.

With his body still sensitive and sore, and with little experience to actually being kissed so impulsively, the best way to describe such an intense feeling is that the blissful electric shock Dipper had experienced before was suddenly intensified as it coursed through his heart and sent _racing_ through his system causing everything to stand on end until it was effectively fried. His ability to think anything was completely obliterated. Everything was gone. This was the closest he really came to a sweeter death and he had no complaints..or reaction for that matter.

"Heh, maybe we should uh, give them some space?", Stanley chuckled some, nodding to the door.

"Yeah, yeah, everyone out of the room!", Stanford quickly started to push away Mabel.

" _Aw,_ Grunkle Stan! They're _so cute!_ ", Mabel whined.

"Wow, talk about concerned!", Wendy teased.

Pacifica pulled away, suddenly realizing how impulsive she was in her moment of relief, and quickly turned to see the others leaving.

 _"N-no wait a minute-!"_

The door closed behind Soos and Pacifica was left there, very red in the face from embarrassment. She looked back at Dipper's stunned, red as a cherry, face. After a moment, he swallowed and blinked and then focused on her.

Pacifica noticed, glanced away awkwardly, and then looked back to see he was still staring at her.

"...WHAT?", she asked indignantly.

Dipper blinked again, as if trying really hard to piece it out in his mind.

"Y...you _can't_...pay me to um.. to forget that..", he remarked quietly, his voice accidentally breaking worse than usual, despite his attempt to clear his throat.

Pacifica looked at him a moment and then the two began to giggle. She blushed a few shades darker and brushed her hair back.

"Um. Yeah, I..I don't think I want you to.", she chuckled.

They smiled at each other a moment, and then Pacifica frowned a little. She looked at Dipper's bandages that were wrapped around his head. Their blushes faded.

"What's wrong?", Dipper asked.

She reached up a hand and Dipper flinched a little as it got close. He wasn't ready for some sore spot to be touched. She hesitated, but then carefully pushed back his hair and ran a thumb over the medical tape. Dipper looked back and felt his heart sink some at her worried face.

"...It looks really painful.", Pacifica sighed some.

Dipper shrugged.

"I'll be okay..", he said. ".. _really_ this time. I can heal from this.."

"..I guess..", Pacifica shrugged. "Just.. Hope you clean up good.."

Dipper chuckled.

"Yeah. You don't want people to see you standing around with a beaten up guy for a boyfriend.", he teased.

Pacifica smiled but then another question fell on both of them. _What now?_

"...we are still..y'know..a _thing?_ ...Right?", Dipper asked, feeling his face grow warm again for saying it out loud.

"Well.. I mean.. I-I want us to be but..", Pacifica shrugged, blushing a little, too. "I don't...really know how it'd work?"

"...I dunno..", Dipper mumbled. "..I know your family hates me... You have a reputation and all.."

"...I don't know.. I almost don't wanna care..", Pacifica scoffed. "But.. Well.. You haven't seen my dad when he gets disappointed..."

"Hm.. Well.. How about a uh.. Mini Golf match?", Dipper asked shyly. "Say...Friday?"

Pacifica looked at him a moment and then frowned again.

" _No!_ ", she scoffed. "You stupid jerk! you're still healing!"

"Wh-? Oh come on!", Dipper rolled his eyes. "I'm sure Grandpa Stan-"

"I will personally PAY you to stay in bed- No. You know? _I'll pay your GRUNKLE_ to keep you there till your better!", she barked.

"Pacifica, you don't have-"

"I _will_ cause I care about you too, Dipper!", she folded her arms across her chest. "Yeah! Try to figure that one out, smart guy! You're not the ONLY one afraid of the other getting hurt around here!"

Dipper ended up laughing a little and Pacifica smiled some.

"Okay. Okay.. I'll stay here.", he chuckled.

"Yeah. If I'm gonna be beating you at something this Friday, like I always will, let's make it over a pokemon match, okay?"

"Fine.", Dipper nodded.

"Yeah, fine."

 _"Fine."_

 ** _"Fine!"_**

They chuckled some more and smiled at each other. Pacifica glanced away, lost in other thoughts. Dipper pondered something, and then reached over to kiss her on the cheek. But in doing so, he accidentally groaned from having to move. Pacifica looked back and Dipper froze. He flushed and tried to back track.

"S-s-sorry.. I was uh..", he stammered.

Pacifica had to suppress laughing at his flustered face. He looked back shyly and she sat up on the bed next to him so the two leaned in for a quick, still fairly shy, kiss. They smiled lovingly at each other when they parted, their faces mirthfully aglow. It was very easy to see now, how different Dipper was from Bipper, and know beyond a doubt, it would never be like that again. Pacifica gently placed a hand on his bandages again, and Dipper took her hand in his and held it.

"...Thank you for staying to see me..", he said before adding sadly. "But.. You should probably be getting home."

Her smiled faltered a little, like his and she nodded some.

"..You're probably right.", she agreed. "..don't want them to ask where I've been."

"...Yeah.", Dipper nodded.

"..So.. Friday?", she asked.

"Friday.", Dipper confirmed. "Around 3?"

"Sounds perfect.", Pacifica nodded.

"Think you can form a team in that time?", Dipper smirked a little.

"You forget, you're talking to a Northwest. I _won't_ lose to _you._ ", Pacifica answered haughtily.

"Oh-ho. I doubt that.", Dipper teased back.

Pacifica humphed and got off the bed with a quick flip of her hair.

"We'll see.", she answered airily.

She walked to the door, shared a last smile with Dipper and then opened it. Immediately, a mess of sweater and brunette hair tumbled to the floor. Mabel looked up, at first surprised, but then grinned deviously.

 _"MABEL!"_ , Dipper shouted in embarrassment.

 _"OH MY GOSH MABEL, WERE YOU **EAVESDROPPING?!** "_, Pacifica exclaimed in horror as her face flushed bright red.

"How long have you two been dating? Cause _OH MAN_ you sound like a married couple!", Mabel giggled mischievously.

 _"I AM **SO** GONNA SUE YOU!"_

Mabel scrambled to her feet and ran out with laughter. Pacifica gave chase.

 _"AND YOU CAN TAKE YOUR RIDICULOUS SWEATER BACK!"_ , Pacifica shouted still.

Dipper buried his face in his hands and wasn't sure if he should laugh or be embarrassed. He could still hear the girls squealing downstairs. It calmed down after a while. A little bit later, he heard a car pull up and guessed it was the limo. He could practically see Pacifica leaving and being driven away as there were the sounds of doors and the car driving away.

In a little bit of time, Mabel came back upstairs with her sweater tied around her waist. She sat on the bed next to Dipper. Dipper looked and finally noticed how she had bandages wrapped around her too.

"...You look worse than me.", he commented.

"You should see a mirror. We're about as bad.", Mabel shrugged with a small smile but then frowned again. "...I'm sorry I had to hurt you so bad. I really didn't want to."

"If it was Grandpa or Grunkle Stan, I'm sure they would've come closer to killing me by accident.", Dipper tried to smile but then soon sighed. "...But what _now?_ Bill...will probably try to come back.."

"Yeah, but I don't think it'll be so easy for him to get to us next time.", Mabel tried to be positive.

"I guess..", Dipper shrugged.

"Hey come on... We've got you back. He can't possess you anymore. You're dating Pacifica. We can finally have some family bonding with our Grandpa Stan without being interrupted. The nightmares will probably go away in a couple of weeks. And hey! Now you don't have to worry about what would happen at the end of Summer!", Mabel smiled more genuinely.

It earned a smile from her brother and he sighed contently.

"Yeah. You're right. ... _You're right._ I should stop being so paranoid. Bill doesn't always show up. And even if he does, we'll always have each other's back."

"Exactly.", Mabel brightened up more. "Oh yeah! There's something Grandpa Stanley wanted me to give you."

She dug out from under the bed and held up Journal 3. Dipper's face lit up a little more seeing it.

"Oh yeah! Bill's gone, I can look through the Journals with Grandpa Stan again!", just then a thought occurred to Dipper. _"...And you totally kicked his butt!"_

He waited, looked around. No slap in the face. Dipper and Mabel laughed a little.

"Yeah! Bill can't hurt you for insulting him now!", Mabel cheered.

"Ha ha ha ha! You know what else was funny?"

"When Pacifica kicked him?"

" **YES,** though that was incredibly painful.", Dipper chuckled a little. "I was meaning when Wendy was wrestling with him on the floor when Pacifica came."

The twins giggled some more and Mabel helped prop Dipper up in bed and gave him the Journal.

"Mystery Twins?", she asked, holding up a fist.

Dipper gladly bumped it.

"Mystery Twins."

* * *

 _Laura: Damn, can't believe it's over now! ...Feels kinda sad. Like.. What now? I'm gonna miss writing.._

 _Amber: Aw man.. Part of me wants it to go on a while longer, it's been a bit since we really wrote something together, you know? I mean, it left off well and there's not really anything else to go on, but I wish we could just kinda live in it a bit longer._

 _Laura: Yeah.. We had a lot of ideas when we were cobbling this together too. Stuff that never made it into the final stuff. It's been crazy! Remember how originally they were gonna give Bill the Journals anyway and Bill threw Dipper's body off the roof and Ford caught him at the bottom?_

 _Amber: Yeah, but I like the ending we have now better. ^^ Though I remember we had this one idea for when Bill was possessing Dipper all day and he blindfolded himself and tried to walk around, just to test his other sense since he's physical now and try not to be so dependent on JUST sight. (And then Stanford scared the crud outta him. xDDDDDD)_

 _Laura: Lol. Yeah. XDD Sneaks up behind him. "BOO!" Yeah, and didn't we have the idea that he was like... I forget. He was torturing Pacifica into paying Gideon out of Jail so Bill had a back-up body when he got rid of Dipper's? Man, that was totally pointless. XD_

 _Amber: I wouldn't say he was TORTURING her, more like making her REALLY want Dipper back like how he ended up doing with everything else, so that way she's more likely to comply. (Via the Bipifica scene.) Then he appeared to her in a dream or something._

 _Laura: Oh yeah. In fact the whole Bipifica wasn't even entirely confirmed till a little later. We kept wondering if it was pointless to have this unnecessary romance coming from Bill, but.. It was hilarious. And did set Pacifica on edge. Aside from that, we had something of Dipper locking himself in a closet to talk with her, right?_

 _Amber: Yeah, so that way Bill couldn't hurt her. I think that then Bill ended up possessing Dipper while he was in the closet, Dipper got upset, but then he possessed a sock puppet or a stuffed toy or something to talk to Paz and "kiss" her on the cheek. XD Either way, it wouldn't work cause of the contract. (THIS A/N IS REALLY LONG, OOPS. O.O)_

 _Laura: (NO REGRETS. WE HAD A LOT GOING INTO THIS STORY!) I still have a personal fave for the "Conceptual Dream" idea. Sorry. But. Y'know, it was cool. Dipper's all battle-scarred from protecting Mabel, who looks perfectly clean aside from the scars on her back. He drinks a potion Bill gives him that's supposed to protect Mabel, but ends up killing himself slowly with each sip till it's too late and she's left all alone. I thought it summarized the whole story nicely. But that's just me._

 _Amber: (STOP MAKING EXCUSES, YOU'RE JUST TRYING TO MAKE THIS LONGER! THIS A/N IS TOO LONG, WE NEED TO END IT! XDDD) I still think that dream was too left-field. Though I did personally like the idea of Bill carving a triangle into Dipper's forehead to keep a really close eye on him when he's not around, since triangles are apparently something of a peephole for him. Way too dark, though._

 _Laura: (Girl, don't even start with me. YOU were the one wanting this to go on longer! I'M MAKING IT GO ON LONGER! SEE HOW BENEVOLENT I AM!) Oh yeah, man! That was awesome and creepy! But yeah, way too dark. Oh yeah, but remember how Bill and Dipper shared the mind at the same time so they started to merge into each other? Dipper's eyes started turning yellow. He kept picking up on Bill's speech patterns by accident. (Calling himself "Pinetree" and then trying very hard to prove he really was Dipper instead. XD) And then Bill accidentally pops into Dipper's body and was like, "WTF? I didn't do this?" Lol. Was not good, really._

 _Amber: (THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT AND YOU KNOW IT! NOW MAKE IT **STOP** XDDDDDD)_

 _Laura: Alright! Alright! FINE! GEEZ! Later everyone! Thanks for taking the time to read and review this. You were awesome! ^_^_

 _Amber: I'm glad that you guys liked this, we put a lot of work into it! (As you can probably tell. XDD)_


End file.
